Though he was born in Switzerland, photographer Robert Frank’s greatest legacy was his representation of places and figures across the United States, the bulk of which was published in a seminal book titled The Americans.
Frank emigrated to America in 1948, settling in New York City, where he was hired as a fashion photographer for Harper’s Bazaar by the magazine’s legendary art director Alexey Brodovitch, who also recruited Lisette Model, Richard Avedon and mid-century-era style-setting couple Leslie Gill and Frances McLaughlin-Gill. Frank’s artistic style — and use of a 35mm Leica, an unconventional choice in the fashion world — proved not to be a fit, however, and he left the job after a few months. He went on to produce street photography around the city while working freelance jobs for the likes of Vogue, Life and other publications.
But it was leaving New York that would produce Frank’s most notable work. Throughout the 1950s, with the support of a Guggenheim Fellowship and guidance from Walker Evans, he embarked on a series of cross-country road trips, traversing nearly every state in the continental U.S. and producing a wealth of arresting photographs of its inhabitants. The black-and-white images pioneered what became known as a “snapshot aesthetic,” capturing a spontaneous moment. Subjects are often out of focus and rarely looking toward the camera, and rippled fabric or bent grasses often suggest movement and breeze.
After an initial publication in France, where the photographs appear alongside essays, The Americans was released in the U.S. in 1959 with a foreword by author Jack Kerouac, who espoused Frank’s ability to capture a uniquely American spirit.
“That crazy feeling in America,” Kerouac wrote, “when the sun is hot and music comes out of the jukebox or from a nearby funeral, that’s what Robert Frank has captured in tremendous photographs taken as he traveled on the road around practically forty-eight states in an old used car.”
Following the release of The Americans, Frank turned much of his attention to film. He would go on to produce a film version of Kerouac’s The Beat Generation and cofounded the New American Cinema Group in 1960. He died in 2019.
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Robert Frank The Americans (1968 MoMa edition)
By Robert Frank
Located in Brooklyn, NY
1968 MoMa edition of Robert Frank The Americans: Cover: Fair overall vintage condition: minor creasing & age related wear. Interior: Good overall vintage condition. Bibliographic ...
Paper
$25,000
Hollywood
By Robert Frank
Located in New York, NY
It's hard to imagine an approach to photography that contrasted more with Robert Frank’s freewheeling style than Hollywood’s glamour shots of film stars in the 1950s. The stills depa...
Silver Gelatin
$772Sale Price|58% Off
Robert Frank Untitled from the Americans, 1958, Beats Culture, Black & White
By Robert Frank
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Robert Frank Untitled from the Americans, 1958, Beats Culture, Black & White. Photogravure print, mid-century, France,wax tissue mounted on conservation matboard. Influenced by the work of Jakob Tuggener and Bill Brandt, as well as Walker Evans, Frank, a native of Switzerland, Frank was fascinated by documentary photography and the notion and image of "America." Frank secured a Guggenheim fellowship in 1955 to do something new and unconstrained by commercial diktats. "The Americans" was first published in 1958 in France, before its first run in the US in 1959. The photographs were shocking and notable for their distanced view of both high and low strata of American society, creating a complicated portrait of a period that was, then and now, considered to be a skeptical portrait of post-WWII American values but also deeply empathetic and profoundly evocative of ubiquitous loneliness. Frank found a tension in the gloss of American culture and wealth over race and class differences, which gave his photographs a clear contrast to those of most contemporary American photojournalists, as did his use of unusual focus, low lighting and cropping that deviated from accepted photographic techniques. Shortly before the book was published in France, Frank returned to the US (1957) and met Jack Kerouac on the sidewalk outside a party. They started chatting. Frank showed him some of his photographs. Kerouac immediately told Frank "Sure, I can write something about these pictures." Kerouac would write the introduction to the American edition of the book, published two years later. Sociologist Howard S...
Paper
Robert Frank, Paris, 1951, Black and White Photography, Tulips
By Robert Frank
Located in London, GB
Paris - Robert Frank (Black and White Photography) Signed and dated Silver gelatin print, printed 1970s 14 x 11 inches Frank’s photographs focused on elements of everyday life that ...
Silver Gelatin
Untitled Portrait
By Seydou Keïta
Located in New York, NY
Listing includes framing with UV Plexi ($900 value), free shipping, and a 14-day return policy. Seydou Keïta Untitled Portrait, 1952 - 1955 (02158) 23...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
Ted Higby at Skyline Rodeo, 1928
Located in New York, NY
Listing includes framing with UV plexiglas, free shipping and a 14 day return policy. Ted Higby at Skyline Rodeo, 1928 15 x 12 inch gelatin silver print Image Size: 14 x 8.5 inches Frame size: 22.5 x 17.5 x 2 inches Edition of 15 Lora Webb Nichols was born in 1883 and grew up in the small mining town of Encampment, Wyoming. At the age of 16 Lora received her first camera and from that moment and for the next few decades she produced work that is both stunning in its singular voice and revealing in the world it opens up for us. At first Nichols photographed her family, friends, and the landscape around Encampment, but when the town experienced a copper mining boom Nichols expanded her scope to become a photographer for hire shooting portraits and industrial photographs. When the boom collapsed, Nichols took the risk of opening her own business in Encampment - The Rocky Mountain Studio - which opened in 1925. The studio ran for ten years, accumulating 24,000 negatives that illustrate the lives and environment of the people living in and around the town while creating a distinctive and surprising body of work. If one was to attempt an analogy – Nichols’ pictures fit somewhere between Lartigue and Lange - joyful and generous while objectively intimate. In particular what seems to distinguish Nichols’ work is the way she sees the world from a female perspective. As Vince Aletti...
Silver Gelatin
Joan and Quintana Roo (Frame 27a.)
By Julian Wasser
Located in New York, NY
Listing includes free shipping for unframed prints and a 14 day return policy. Joan Didion by Julian Wasser 20 x 16 inch gelatin silver print Edition 3 of 15 Signed on verso by Julian Wasser *Please inquire for international shipments. Quotes will be provided at cost via FedEx. Description - Julian Wasser started his career in photography in the Washington DC bureau of the Associated Press where he met and accompanied the famous news photographer Weegee – who would become a lasting influence on him. In the mid-60s Wasser moved to Los Angeles as a contract photographer for TIME, LIFE, and FORTUNE magazines and becoming internationally known as the go to guy for getting candid but memorably composed photographs. (His iconic images of Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston; Marcel Duchamp and Eve Babitz; and a young Jodie Foster are already classics.) In 1968 TIME Magazine assigned Wasser to go to the home of the young writer Joan Didion whose book Slouching Towards Bethlehem was becoming a literary sensation. “I’d read her fiction,” said Wasser. “and she didn’t miss a thing. She was such a heavyweight person.” Wasser shot Didion at her rented house on Franklin Avenue in Hollywood, where she lived with her husband, the writer John Gregory Dunne, and their daughter, Quintana Roo. “It was a nice, cozy house,” Wasser remembers. “And she was a very easy person to talk to...
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
$5,000
H 11 in W 14 in
Eve Babitz and Marcel Duchamp playing chess during Duchamp's Pasadena Art Museum
By Julian Wasser
Located in New York, NY
Listing is for an unframed print and includes free shipping to the continental US and 14-day return policy. Julian Wasser Eve Babitz and Marcel Duchamp pl...
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
$750 / item
H 11.8 in W 16.2 in D 4 in
Walt Disney Film Archives, the Animated Movies 1921-1968, Collector's Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Hardcover, 620 pages, 41.1 x 30 cm (16.2 x 11.8 in.) in clamshell box. With portfolio of 5 cel setups, 37.6 x 30 cm (14.8 x 11.8 in.) and 30 x 36.3 cm (11.8 x 14.3 in.), and 64-page facsimile of 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' storyboard from Fantasia, 30 x 37 cm (11.8 x 14.6 in.). This Taschen Collector’s edition presents the first volume of one of the most expansive illustrated publications on Disney animation. In it, some 1,500 images as well as top essays by eminent Disney experts take us to the beating heart of the studio’s “Golden Age of Animation,” tracing Disney’s complete animation journey from the silent film era, through his first full-length feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and the pioneering artistic experiment Fantasia (1940), right up to his last masterpieces Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966) and The Jungle Book (1967). The book brings focus to each of the major animated features made during Walt’s lifetime, including Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, Bambi, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, and 101 Dalmatians, without forgetting the experimental short films of the Silly Symphonies series, underappreciated episodic musical films such as Make Mine Music and Melody Time, and many unfinished projects, such as proposed sequels to Fantasia or a homage to Davy Crockett by painter Thomas Hart Benton. With extensive research conducted through the collections of the Walt Disney Company, as well as private collections, editor Daniel Kothenschulte curates some of the most precious concept paintings and storyboards to reveal just how these animation masterpieces came to life. These original artworks are accompanied by cel setups of famous film scenes, rare pictures from Disney photographers, and fascinating excerpts from story conferences between Walt and his staff. Throughout, contributions from leading Disney specialists detail the evolution of each film and honour the outstanding animators and designers who influenced the style of the studio, among them Albert Hurter, Gustaf Tenggren, Kay Nielsen, Carl Barks, Mary Blair, Sylvia Holland, Tyrus Wong...
Other
Bea with a whip at The Other Side
By Nan Goldin
Located in New York, NY
Nan Goldin Bea with a whip at The Other Side 1973 Gelatin silver print 14 x 11 inches; 36 x 28 cm Edition of 100 Signed, titled, dated, and numbered in graphite (lower right verso) ...
Silver Gelatin
$1,647
H 24 in W 20 in
Liz Hurley - Celebrity Photography Print (Limited Edition of 25) -- 20 x 24 In.
Located in New York, NY
Elizabeth Hurley photographed by British celebrity and fashion photographer John Stoddart. This risqué iconic black and white photograph expresses her incredible figure, capturing the actress completely naked, against the head of a large Grecian bust...
Silver Gelatin
$1,800
H 32.25 in W 27.3 in D 1.3 in
Christo / The Pont Neuf Wrapped / Project For Paris, 1984 Lithograph
By Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Nouvelles Images
Located in New York, NY
Christo / The Pont Neuf Wrapped / Project for Paris, 1984 / Collage En Deux Partes Offset lithograph in colors on woven paper, published by Nouvelles Ima...
Paper
$4,805
H 30 in W 20 in
Catherine Zeta-Jones (Limited Edition of 25) - Celebrity Photography
Located in New York, NY
This 1991 fine art print features Catherine Zeta-Jones when she was a TV actress in Britain and aspiring to be a Hollywood Star. Her success in The Darling Buds of May (English comed...
Silver Gelatin
$6,602Sale Price|20% Off
H 40 in W 30 in
Liz Hurley (Limited Edition of 25) - Celebrity Photography - 30x40 Print
Located in New York, NY
Elizabeth Hurley photographed by British celebrity and fashion photographer John Stoddart. This risqué iconic black and white photograph expresses her incredible figure, capturing the actress completely naked, against the head of a large Grecian bust...
Silver Gelatin
$4,118
H 40 in W 30 in
Jane March (Limited Edition of 25) - 30"x40" Celebrity Photography
Located in New York, NY
This fine art print features actress and model Jane March, posed topless on the rooftop of the Hotel Le Bristol in Paris in 1992. This risqué iconic b...
Silver Gelatin
$1,647Sale Price|20% Off
H 20 in W 24 in
Daniel Craig Contact Sheet (Limited Edition of 25) - Celebrity Photography
Located in New York, NY
This is a 2002 contact sheet (a positive print of all the negative images from a roll of 35mm film or medium format film) of youthful-looking Daniel Craig...
Silver Gelatin
The Americans: 81 Contact Sheets
By Robert Frank
Located in New York, NY
The is the last remaining set available by any gallery. Danziger Gallery is pleased to present the legendary but rarely seen limited edition portfolio “ROBERT FRANK - THE AMERICAN...
Photographic Film, Lithograph, Silver Gelatin
Sold
H 12 in W 12 in D 0.25 in
Original Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street Vinyl Record 'First Pressing'
By Robert Frank
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Vintage original rolling stones exile on main street vinyl first pressing, 1972, two vinyl records featuring photography by Robert Frank Cover:...
Paper
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H 12 in W 12 in D 0.25 in
Original Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street Vinyl Record 'First Pressing'
By Robert Frank
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Vintage original rolling stones exile on main street vinyl first pressing, 1972; two vinyl records featuring photography by Robert Frank Cover: ...
Paper
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H 12 in W 12 in D 0.25 in
Original Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street Vinyl Record 'First Pressing'
By Robert Frank
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Vintage original rolling stones exile on main street vinyl first pressing, 1972; two vinyl records featuring photography by Robert Frank Cover...
Paper
Sold
H 12 in W 12 in D 0.25 in
Original Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street Vinyl Record 'First Pressing'
By Robert Frank
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Vintage original rolling stones exile on main street vinyl first pressing, 1972; two vinyl records featuring photography by Robert Frank Cover...
Sold
H 12 in W 12 in D 0.25 in
Original Rolling Stones, Exile on Main Street Vinyl Record ‘Robert Frank’
By Robert Frank
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Vintage original rolling stones exile on Main Street Vinyl first pressing, 1972; two vinyl records Photography/artwork by Robert Frank Cove...
Comme des Garcons Six Magazine, Number 4, 1989
By Rei Kawakubo, Robert Frank
Located in CA, CA
Only published between 1988 and 1991, the few existing issues of Comme Des Garcons’ biannual ‘Six’ magazine have become hugely collectable. Collaborating with artists, Rei Kawakubo created publications to be released inline with her collections of those years. This incredible issue includes work from Robert Frank, Arthur Elgort, Josef Koudeika, Saul Leiter...
Original Rolling Stones, Exile on Main Street Vinyl Record
By Robert Frank
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Vintage Original Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street Vinyl 1st Pressing, 1972 Photography/Artwork by Robert Frank Cover, inserts & both rec...
Offset
Untitled, Amusement Park
By Robert Frank
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Signed on the back of the print, lower right. Exhibited Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, 1985.
Silver Gelatin
Motorama, Los Angeles
By Robert Frank
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Signed on the front of the print, lower right in black ink. Exhibited Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, 1985.
Silver Gelatin
Photo Booth
By Robert Frank
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Signed on the front of the print, lower right in black ink. Exhibited Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, 1985.
Silver Gelatin