Landmark Photos from Robert Frank’s Journeys in the 1940s and 1950s

Robert Frank, Peru, 1948. Estimate $100,000–150,000.

In 1948, Frank visited South America and created a book to document his travels to Peru . These early photographs herald the themes and devices that would be fully developed in his influential photobook, The Americans (1958) and reveal a documentarian’s expert timing, sensitivity and fascination with the people encountered.

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Robert Frank, ‘Daytona Beach,’ 1958, probably printed in the 1970s. Estimate $20,000–30,000.

In the spring of 1958, several months before The Americans was published, Robert Frank agreed to accompany Jack Kerouac on a road trip to Florida to fetch the writer’s mother, cats, typewriter and old manuscripts. Life magazine agreed to pay their expenses for food and gas in the hope that a picture story might result. The piece was never published, but this photograph of a psychedelic motorcyclist at Daytona Beach was made by Frank during the journey.

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Robert Frank, ‘Paris’ (Chairs), 1949, possibly printed circa 1968. Estimate $20,000–30,000.

In the 21 May 1951 issue of Life magazine, a sequence of Frank’s 1949 photographs illustrated the story “Speaking of Pictures: A Photographer in Paris Finds Chairs Everywhere.” This was Frank's first appearance in Life magazine. The right portion of the present image was reproduced there. It was captioned “Seven chairs are clustered together in a sociable group. Resting concessions are usually given to old people and invalids, who rent armchairs for 8 francs.”

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Robert Frank, ‘Assembly Line – Detroit’, 1955, probably printed in the 1970s. Estimate $30,000–50,000.

In July 1955, Frank followed in the footsteps of Charles Sheeler and photographed Ford’s River Rouge plant, the largest self-contained automotive manufacturing complex in the world, where raw materials were transformed into one car every minute. Of the 83 pictures in The Americans, nine were made in Detroit, including this image of the assembly line.

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Robert Frank, New Orleans (Trolley), 1955, probably printed in the 1970s. Estimate $100,000–150,000.

New Orleans (Trolley) was chosen as the cover image for the first American edition of The Americans, and it has become emblematic of the whole series. As a commentary on race relations in 1950s America, it stands as one of the most culturally resonant images. The separation between the white and African-American passengers, who are framed within the trolley’s windows, is a clear representation of segregation.

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Robert Frank, ‘Hoboken’ (Parade, New Jersey), 1955, probably printed in the 1970s. Estimate $80,000–120,000.

Acclaimed as one of the most important and influential photographic books of the 20th century, The Americans offers incisive commentary on American society as observed by a European émigré. Frank’s transcontinental documentation of America was the result of two Guggenheim Fellowships in 1955 and 1956. The first photograph in the book, Hoboken has also come to represent the series.

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Robert Frank, ‘NYC’ (Charity Ball, New York City), 1955, printed later. Estimate $25,000–35,000.

In an early interview Frank said, “I did try to photograph the richer people, the upper class people. But it was very hard to get to them because those people are in their homes. They are away from the viewer. They are away from the public view. You can’t get into their country clubs.”

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Robert Frank, Jay, N. Y. (Fourth of July), 1954, probably printed in the 1970s. Estimate $60,000–90,000.

Robert Frank structured the 83 images in The Americans into four parts, each beginning with the symbolically charged American flag. Jay, N. Y. begins the second section. When asked about the recurrence of the national symbol in his photographs, Frank said, “I liked the visual, graphic image of that flag. I think it’s a very good flag.”

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Robert Frank, Detroit Rodeo, 1955, printed later. Estimate $15,000–25,000.

Throughout The Americans, Robert Frank repeatedly explores American symbolism. One of the most distinctly American icons is the cowboy , who makes an appearance twice in The Americans – in the urban environment of New York City and in the rural context of the rodeo.

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