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.
Find Robert Frank photography on 1stDibs.
$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
Price Upon Request
Paris - Robert Frank (Black and White Photography)
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
$1,350
H 25.75 in W 29 in D 1.5 in
"Morning, Ayers Rock", Black & White Australia Landscape Photograph
By Charles Cramer
Located in Soquel, CA
Behold nature's stunning beauty in this black & white hand signed landscape photograph of beautiful Ayers Rock in Australia, showcasing the elegant curv...
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
Chanel Vertical, 1990
By Todd Burris
Located in Hudson, NY
Listing is for UNFRAMED print. Edition 1 of 15. CURRENT EXHIBITION - runs through September 4th, 2016. Any framed photographs purchased during the show will be available after September 4th. If the exhibition piece is sold or the customer orders a different print size, the photograph is produced upon purchase. Please allow two weeks for production. Shipping time depends on method of shipping. Price is subject to availability. The Robin Rice Gallery reserves the right to adjust this price depending on the current edition of the photograph. ABOUT: Since the early ‘90s, gallerist Robin Rice and designer Antony Todd...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Silver Gelatin
Surf Club, Miami 1989
By Silvia Lareo-Vazquez
Located in Hudson, NY
Listing is for UNFRAMED print. Inquire within for framing. Edition of 25. CURRENT EXHIBITION - runs through September 11th, 2016. Any framed photographs purchased during the show will be available after September 11th. If the exhibition piece is sold or the customer orders a different print size, the photograph is produced upon purchase. Please allow two weeks for production. Shipping time depends on method of shipping. Price is subject to availability. The Robin Rice Gallery reserves the right to adjust this price depending on the current edition of the photograph. ABOUT: In the hazy, warm New York summer, little is more refreshing than reclining on the beach in the mist of the icy ocean waves or enjoying a family trip to the country house. Each summer, Rice curates her favorite show, the Summertime Salon, which reminds us of this exact seasonal sentiment. The two, long walls of the gallery become mosaicked, top to bottom, side to side, in photographs that evoke all the preeminent feelings and memories of summer. Each year, the Summertime Salon matures and Rice’s annual masterpiece comes into fruition. This year is no exception. The show is a haven of what the Robin Rice Gallery stands for, a community of art and experience. As the largest annual exhibition, the Summertime Salon is carefully pieced together, the results are staggering. The works of the 53 gallery artists come together communally, reinforcing the overall sense of unity that the show creates as a whole. In knowing the photographs so fluently, Rice strategically places them together in a way that will enhance the individual stories contained in each. Details from one image flow from into the next, elevating every photograph in a distinctly unique way. This year’s invitational image, “Surf Club” by Silvia Lareo-Vasquez, features a woman in a vintage sun hat reclining in the pool with a drink. The black and white image evokes an extreme sense of nostalgia in its cinematic portraiture and supple texture. Though the figure of the woman is tauntingly beautiful, the drink is the darkest tone, nearing black, and is centered in the frame. With this, we are reminded of the refreshing notes of summer and the utter serenity of taking the day off to relax. The show’s imagery is evocative of all eras of summer, thus any viewer can relate or connect to one of the images. As Rice likes to say, “There’s something for everyone.” One image by Benjamin Heller details a strong owl flying...
Silver Gelatin
Ramona Falls, Oregon
By Stu Levy
Located in Westwood, NJ
Stu Levy's photographs often involve fragile landscapes that invoke a sense of timelessness. The landscape, is often his stimulus or point of departure, then asking the question, &qu...
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
$966Sale Price|20% Off
H 8.08 in W 10.04 in
Marilyn Monroe, unique print of 1988 from original negative
By Edward Feingersh
Located in Cologne, DE
Ed Feingersh photographed Marilyn Monroe for Redbook magazine in March 1955 for a story which would follow Monroe through her daily routine, the photography to be candid and shot wit...
Silver Gelatin
$3,700
H 11.63 in W 8 in D 0.01 in
Frida at the Barbizon Plaza Hotel - Black and White Portrait, Celebrity, Woman
By Lucienne Bloch
Located in Denton, TX
Frida at the Barbizon Plaza Hotel by Lucienne Bloch is a black and white portrait of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo sitting in a chair under her self portrait hanging on the wall. Im...
Silver Gelatin
Ivy Pants
By Keith Sharp
Located in Hudson, NY
Listing is for UNFRAMED print. Inquire within for framing. Edition of 15. CURRENT EXHIBITION – runs through September 6, 2015. Any photographs purchased during the show will b...
Silver Gelatin
Red Hot Chili Peppers by Ebet Roberts
By Ebet Roberts
Located in Austin, TX
A classic, stunning shot of the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1985 by celebrated photographer, Ebet Roberts. Signed limited edition, hand printed sil...
Silver Gelatin
Colors of the Bamboo
By Dae Soo Kim
Located in Westwood, NJ
Dae-Soo Kim works in Paris and Seoul, while approaching this series with sensitivity and delicacy. In Korea the bamboo plants grow up to 30 meters high, while possessing a high symb...
Silver Gelatin
Lighthouse, Norway
By Brian Kosoff
Located in Westwood, NJ
Brian Kosoff, an accomplished master of the photographic process, spent most of his life in photography and still considers himself a student of the medium. As a teenager, he was in...
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
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
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