Valeriia Azarochkina
Saint Petersburg State University, Russia
The paper is dedicated to the creative work of an American artist Cindy Sherman. A significant part of her artworks is assigned to allusions to classical art. Particular interest is aroused towards Sherman’s interpretation of Old Master paintings in the famous 1980–1990s series “History Portraits / Old Masters”.
The artist’s comprehension of art forms, its traditions and the laws of art developed by the Renaissance masters helps Sherman to interpret images embodied by the great artists in her own way. The “History Portraits / Old Masters” series takes us back to the formal level of the Renaissance art, appealing to the problem of vertically oriented gestalt in the classical art.
Sherman’s series is regarded in the context of gender studies from the point of modern feministic criticism and the theory of art.
The research focuses on the problem of myth arising in American art of the 1980–1990s and associated with the reception of Roland Barthes’ scientific work.