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The Dark Threat of Absence (Camera 1 Scene 10)

Sturtevant American

2002

Not on view

Two decades before appropriation was made popular by Richard Prince, Sherrie Levine, and other artists, Sturtevant (born Elaine Frances　Horan) carefully duplicated paintings by contemporary artists such as Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol and presented the work as her own. Remarkably, the enigmatic artist did her copying from memory, not from photographs. This work is a still from a multichannel video by Sturtevant that explores issues of originality and ownership using found and recycled digital imagery.

The Dark Threat of Absence (Camera 1 Scene 10), Sturtevant (American, 1924–2014), Chromogenic print — Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: The Dark Threat of Absence (Camera 1 Scene 10)

Artist: Sturtevant (American, 1924–2014)

Date: 2002

Medium: Chromogenic print

Dimensions: Image: 4 5/16 in. × 6 in. (11 × 15.3 cm)
Framed: 14 × 11 1/2 in. (35.6 × 29.2 cm)

Classification: Photographs

Credit Line: Promised Gift of Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee, in celebration of the Museum’s 150th Anniversary

Accession Number: SL.13.2020.1.74

Rights and Reproduction: Courtesy Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London, Paris, Salzburg. © Estate Surtevant, Paris

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