Robert Frank

signed, titled, and dated '1956' in ink on the image, numerical notations in pencil on the reverse, framed, a Bloom Collection label on the reverse, 1956, printed in the 1970s

Jan Kesner Gallery, Los Angeles, 1997

The Americans, no. 39

Sarah Greenough, Looking In: Robert Frank’s The Americans, pp. 257, 471, and 478, and Contact no. 39

Robert Frank: Story Lines, frontispiece 6

This photograph, on double-weight paper with a semi-glossy surface, is in generally excellent condition. In the upper margin there is a very faint grey mark from stray exposure during processing. There are a few, tiny scattered deposits of indeterminate nature in the margins. The margin corners are bumped, and the top paper-ply is folded back at the tip of the upper right margin corner. There is a very small tear to the lower right margin edge, which does not affect the image. The reverse is lightly darkened where 2 labels were previously affixed. The labels are now affixed to the mat (a circular neon yellow label with 'P/K A-33 (I)' in ink, and a rectangular label with 'NYU LAW #10 P/K A-33 (I)' in ink). The notations on the reverse of the print, in an unidentified hand in pencil, are as follows: 'NYUAC # 1993.6.10,' '10-194,' and '167.' This photograph has undergone conservation, and a treatment report is available upon request from the department. It is believed that only 4 other prints of this image have previously been offered at auction.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

It would be difficult to find a picture more at-odds with the prevailing photojournalistic style of the 1950s than the photograph offered here.  Its chaotic profusion of plants and trees extends to the very edges of the image, drawing the composition toward abstraction.  The subject matter, too, is not the sort likely to have been seen within the pages of LIFE magazine.  Frank, like Walker Evans before him, was drawn to America’s homegrown eccentricity.  While the country produced many native peculiarities, Frank was one of the few to investigate this theme with his camera.  Backyard, Venice West, California, also gave Frank the opportunity to continue the motif of the American flag, here put to use as a sun shade by the seated figure.

 

“Madman resting under American flag canopy in old busted car seat in fantastic Venice California backyard, I could sit in it and sketch 30,000 words (as a railroad brakeman I rode by such backyards leaning out of the old steam pot) (empty tokay bottles in the palm weeds)” Jack Kerouac