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The Dark Threat of Absence (Camera 1 Scene 10)

Sturtevant American
2002
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
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.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 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
  • Rights and Reproduction: Courtesy Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London, Paris, Salzburg. © Estate Surtevant, Paris
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs
Sturtevant - The Dark Threat of Absence (Camera 1 Scene 10) - The Metropolitan Museum of Art