Robert Frank

Acquired from the photographer, 1978

The Americans, no. 1 

‘Robert Frank’, Aperture 9:1, 1961, p. 6

Willy Rotzler, ‘Der Photograph Robert Frank,’ Du, January 1962, p. 16

John Szarkowski, The Photographer’s Eye (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1966), p. 155

Robert Frank, The Lines of My Hand (Tokyo, 1972), p. 56

LIFE Library of Photography: Documentary Photography (New York,1972), p. 168

Robert Frank (New York, 1976), front cover 

Robert A. Sobieszek, Masterpieces of Photography: From the George Eastman House Collections (New York, 1985), p. 247

Marianne Fulton, Eyes of Time: Photojournalism in America‎ (New York Graphic Society, 1988), p. 177

John Szarkowski, Photography Until Now (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1989), p. 258

Sarah Greenough and Philip Brookman, Robert Frank: Moving Out (Washington, D. C.: National Gallery of Art, 1994), pp. 111 and 175

Peter Galassi, American Photography 1890-1965 from The Museum of Modern Art (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1995), p. 215

Lisa Phillips, The American Century: Art & Culture, 1950-2000 (New York: Whitney Museum of Modern Art, 1999), pl. 108

Peter Galassi, Walker Evans & Company (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2000), pl. 316

Emma Dexter and Thomas Weski, eds., Cruel and Tender: The Real in the Twentieth-Century Photograph (London: Tate Modern, 2003), p. 101

Philip Brookman and Vicente Todolí, Robert Frank: Storylines (London: Tate Modern, 2004), frontispiece 3

Charlie LeDuff, 'Robert Frank's Unsentimental Journey,' Vanity Fair, New York, April 2008, p. 165

Sarah Greenough, Looking In: Robert Frank’s The Americans (Washington, D. C.: National Gallery of Art, 2009), cover, pp. 211 and 460, and Contact no. 1

Christian A. Peterson, Masterpiece Photographs from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts: The Curatorial Legacy of Carroll T. Hartwell (Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2009), p. 89

Jean Dykstra, 'Poetry of the Moment,' Art & Antiques, November 2009, p. 78

David Campany, The Open Road: Photography & The American Road Trip (New York, 2014), p. 45

Peter Galassi, Robert Frank in America (Göttingen, 2014), p. 107

Robert Frank’s Hoboken N. J. (Parade) is perhaps the most indelible photograph from The Americans. As the first photograph in Frank’s seminal volume, Hoboken has become the representative icon for the whole series. Of these images, Frank wrote, “I have attempted to show a cross-section of the American population. . .The view is personal and, therefore, various facets of American life and society have been ignored. . . My photographs are not planned or composed in advance and I do not anticipate that the on-looker will share my viewpoint. However, I feel that if my photograph leaves an image on his mind—something has been accomplished.” (US Camera 1958, p. 115)

Hoboken N. J. (Parade) is among Frank’s most aesthetically accomplished work. Made during the festivities of the city of Hoboken’s centennial in March 1955, the image is simultaneously documentary and conceptual. Two figures are pictured observing a parade. Framed in the windows of an unassuming brick building, the faces are obscured – the sitter at left in the shadows of her apartment and the sitter at right shrouded by a billowing American Flag. The mood is surprisingly dark for an image made during celebration. Indeed, in Frank’s handling, the flag is both a utilitarian tool of pageantry and a statement on American politics in the post-war era. Hoboken N. J. (Parade) has been immortalized in every major monograph on the photographer and has been included in countless exhibitions globally.