Meryl Streep, New York City
Artist
Annie Leibovitz
(American, born 1949)
Date1981
MediumDye destruction print
DimensionsImage: 10 × 10 inches (25.4 × 25.4 cm)
Credit LineGift of Hallmark Cards, Inc.
Object number2005.27.4238
InscribedSignature
Signed in artist's hand
Front of Print
Edition/State/Proofed. 18/40
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionImage of a woman, Meryl Streep, whose face is painted bright white. She uses her fingertips to stretch parts of her face.Exhibition HistoryA View of Her Own: Images of Women by Women Artists. Grinnell College, Grinelle, IA, October 2-31 , 1987, no cat.
In the Public Eye: Photography and Fame. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, March 8 - June 15, 2008, no cat.
Annie Leibovitz poses the consummate actress Meryl Streep as a mutable character. The transformation of Streep’s face into a mask emphasizes her ability to adapt to any role, blurring the distinction between person and performance. Leibovitz achieved renown in the 1970s for her bold and stylish celebrity photographs for Rolling Stone magazine. Playing with the concept of identity, Leibovitz portrays subjects that are already widely known through the mass media.
Copyright© Annie Leibovitz (Contact Press Images)
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