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
Chanel Vertical, 1990
By Todd Burris
Located in Hudson, NY
Listing is for UNFRAMED print. Inquire within for framing. Edition of 1 of 15 If the exhibition piece is sold or the customer orders a different print size, the photograph is prod...
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
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
$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
Joan Didion, Hollywood, 1968 (Frame 33a.)
By Julian Wasser
Located in New York, NY
This is a limited edition 16 x 20 inch print of Joan Didion by photographer Julian Wasser shot for her iconic interview with TIME in 1968. Listing includes free shipping to the continental US and a 14-day return policy. Please inquire for framing options or international shipments. We offer framing services through our New York location. Joan Didion by Julian Wasser Gelatin Silver Print Paper Size: 16 x 20 inches Image Size: 11.5 x 17.5 inches Edition 9 of 15 Signed and on the back by Julian Wasser and editioned on adhesive certificate History Behind the Photograph - 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...
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
Wrestler's Embrace
By Laurence Salzmann
Located in Hudson, NY
Listing is for UNFRAMED print. Inquire within for framing. Edition of 10. If the exhibition piece is sold or the customer orders a different print size, the photograph is pro...
Silver Gelatin
$4,500
H 16 in W 24 in
"Marilyn Monroe, 1962" Photography 16 x 24 in Edition 57/75 by Lawrence Schiller
By Lawrence Schiller
Located in Culver City, CA
"Marilyn Monroe, 1962" Photography 16 x 24 in Edition 57/75 by Lawrence Schiller Silver Gelatin print Edition 57/75 Signed and numbered by the artist Printed later On Wednesday, May 23, 1962, Marilyn Monroe stepped onto the set of Something’s Got to Give to film what would become one of the most iconic and talked-about moments of her career: the now-legendary nude swimming pool scene. This extraordinary day—captured in a series of rare photographs by renowned photographer Lawrence Schiller—has since become a cornerstone of Hollywood history. Key moments that make this session truly historic: A Bold Cinematic First: Monroe spent nearly four hours in the pool on the 20th Century Fox lot, filming a sequence in which her character, Ellen Arden, appears to swim nude...
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 (00089-MA.K...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
$40,000
H 30 in W 40 in
"David Bowie and Mick Ronson, in the Train 1973" 30 x 40 in 16/25 by Mick Rock
By Mick Rock
Located in Culver City, CA
"David Bowie and Mick Ronson, in the Train 1973" 30 x 40 in 16/25 by Mick Rock David Bowie and Mick Ronson, in the Train to Aberdeen, Scotland, 1973 Edition: 16/25 Signed and number...
Silver Gelatin
$15,000
H 20 in W 24 in D 1 in
"Syd Barrett Laying on His Car" Photography 20" x 24" inch 14/50 by Mick Rock
By Mick Rock
Located in Culver City, CA
"Syd Barrett Laying on His Car" Photography 20" x 24" inch 14/50 by Mick Rock Edition: 14/50 Signed and numbered by Mick Rock Medium: Silver gelatin limited edition photographic pri...
Silver Gelatin
Lizzie Nichols and Perkins, 1913
Located in New York, NY
Listing includes framing with UV plexiglas, free shipping and a 14 day return policy. Lizzie Nichols and Perkins, 1913 15 x 15 inch gelatin silver print Image Size: 10.75 x 11 inches Frame size: 18 x 18 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
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