Untitled, Unreleased #4 (2003)

Gregory Crewdson, Untitled, Unreleased #4, 2003, Digital pigment print, 8.2 x 12.7 in. (image) 11 x 14 in. (sheet), Signed by the photographer,

In 2003, Gregory Crewdson visited the set of Six Feet Under to shoot a campaign for the acclaimed HBO series depicting a family-run funeral home. There, he met Lauren Ambrose, who was starring in the show. Crewdson made a photograph of Ambrose in his signature cinematic style, a photograph that has never before been seen, released, or published—until now.

For one week only this print was available from Aperture as a special open edition print, limited to a one week availability. Sales of Untitled, Unreleased #4 (2003) was to benefit the Triplex, an independent movie theater in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Like many independent movie theaters across the country, the Triplex faces an uncertain future. When news of its possible closing spread, a group of people living in or with ties to the Berkshires quickly came together and started a non-profit to buy the theater.

The Triplex, like so many small independent movie theaters across the country, faces an uncertain future. When news of its possible closing spread, a group of people living in or with ties to the Berkshires quickly came together, started a non-profit to buy the theater and save it. The small movie house is currently the only full time working movie theater in town, or for 45 minutes in any direction. But the Triplex’s legacy looms larger than that. For Crewdson, and many others, the theater is associated with the late legendary film critic Pauline Kael, who lived in Great Barrington. Kael was a family friend of Crewdson’s, and he used to see movies there with her, especially in her later years. Many other local artists, writers, and filmmakers have their own anecdotes about Kael frequenting the theater, and there are even discussions about renaming it after her. A young Wes Anderson famously screened Rushmore there for her, and then wrote about his experience in The New York Times.

Gregory Crewdson and Lauren Ambrose are among local residents who are actively trying to save the theater. By a stroke of serendipity, Crewdson had just recently come across the picture he made featuring Ambrose in his archives and was struck by it, its beauty and magical quality, and what a time capsule it had become. He decided to use it to benefit the cause. The picture was made in 2003 when Crewdson was just embarking on the body of work that would ultimately be made across 8 productions, shot on an 8 x 10 camera with his full cinematic lighting team and a production crew of over a hundred. Beneath the Roses remains his most elaborate and lengthy undertaking to date. This is the first time Crewdson has made an unreleased work from the series available as an editioned print.

Gregory Crewdson, Untitled, Unreleased #4, 2003, Digital pigment print, 8.2 x 12.7 in. (image) 11 x 14 in. (sheet), signed by the artist. The special edition will remain open and available for one week only, through June 9th at 11:59 PM ET.

“This picture feels really fateful,” notes Crewdson. “It's been waiting all these years for the right moment.”