Photographs from a Private Collection, New York
128
Robert Frank
US 285, New Mexico
- Estimate
- $30,000 - 50,000
$87,500
Lot Details
Gelatin silver print, printed circa 1986.
1956
8 3/4 x 6 1/8 in. (22.2 x 15.6 cm)
Signed, titled and dated '1955' in ink in the margin.
Specialist
Full-Cataloguing
Catalogue Essay
In 1986, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, sought to acquire 27 prints from Robert Frank’s The Americans for their permanent collection. In order to raise the funds necessary, The Met's Department of Photographs approached a small group of donors for assistance. Robert Frank, pleased at the prospect of the acquisition, offered, through Pace/MacGill Gallery, three prints from The Americans to be printed as a gift for each donor. The print on offer comes from one of the private collectors whose generous support helped make The Met's 1986 Robert Frank acquisition possible. Collectively, three images selected were: Trolley, New Orleans, 1955, Chicago-Political Rally, 1956, and US 285, New Mexico, 1956.
Provenance
Literature
Robert Frank
Swiss | 1924As one of the leading visionaries of mid-century American photography, Robert Frank has created an indelible body of work, rich in insight and poignant in foresight. In his famed series The Americans, Frank travelled the United States, capturing the parade of characters, hierarchies and imbalances that conveyed his view of the great American social landscape.
Frank broke the mold of what was considered successful documentary photography with his "snapshot aesthetic." It is Frank's portrayal of the United States through grit and grain that once brought his work to the apex of criticism, but has now come to define the art of documentary photography.
Browse ArtistFrank broke the mold of what was considered successful documentary photography with his "snapshot aesthetic." It is Frank's portrayal of the United States through grit and grain that once brought his work to the apex of criticism, but has now come to define the art of documentary photography.