id: 151930 accession number: 1984.213 share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1984.213 updated: 2023-03-14 12:01:54.128000 Fourth of July, Jay, New York, 1955. Robert Frank (American, 1924–2019). Gelatin silver print, printed 1970s; image: 47.6 x 31.1 cm (18 3/4 x 12 1/4 in.); paper: 50.2 x 40.6 cm (19 3/4 x 16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Anonymous Gift 1984.213 © Robert Frank title: Fourth of July, Jay, New York title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1955 creation date earliest: 1955 creation date latest: 1955 current location: creditline: Anonymous Gift copyright: © Robert Frank --- culture: America, 20th century technique: gelatin silver print, printed 1970s department: Photography collection: PH - American 1951-Present type: Photograph find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Robert Frank (American, 1924–2019) - artist Robert Frank American, b. Switzerland, 1924-2019. Robert Louis Frank achieved fame for his controversial book, The Americans, which presented in a series of candid black-and-white photographs his observations of American life in the late 1950s. Born in Zurich, Frank began his photographic career as an apprentice with Hermann Eidenbenz in Basel (1940-41) and Michael Wolgensinger in Zurich (1942). After serving in the military in 1944, he worked for Gloria Films in Zurich as a still photographer and in 1946 moved to Paris to establish himself in commercial work. The following year he immigrated to New York City, where he met and was hired by Alexey Brodovitch, art director for Harper's Bazaar. Frank photographed for Brodovitch until 1951, when he began to work as a freelance photojournalist, taking assignments from magazines such as Life, McCall's, and Fortune. He also began exhibiting his pictures in group shows at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. In 1955 and 1956 Frank received back-to-back fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, which allowed him to travel across America taking photographs. Eighty-three of the images from his road trip appeared in The Americans. On his journey Frank took a subjective documentary approach to record commonplace aspects of American culture: lunch counters, drive-in movies, factories, parades, rodeos, parties. He also captured evidence of poverty, racism, and alienation, challenging the popular perception of a prosperous, harmonious postwar America. The book was first published in France as Les Américains (1958) and the following year appeared in the United States, with an introduction by Beat poet and writer Jack Kerouac. Frank then turned to filmmaking, collaborating with Kerouac and painter Alfred Leslie on Pull My Daisy (1959). The Sin of Jesus (1961), O.K. End Here (1963), Me and My Brother (1968), and Life-Raft Earth (1969) followed. Since 1969 Frank has lived in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, producing photographs and film with a personal, autobiographical approach. His images have been included in many shows, including a recent one-artist traveling exhibition organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (1994). M.M. --- measurements: Image: 47.6 x 31.1 cm (18 3/4 x 12 1/4 in.); Paper: 50.2 x 40.6 cm (19 3/4 x 16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Year in Review for 1984 opening date: 1985-04-03T05:00:00 Year in Review for 1984. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 3-May 5, 1985). title: Old Glory: The American Flag in Contemporary Art opening date: 1996-03-16T05:00:00 Old Glory: The American Flag in Contemporary Art. Phoenix Art Museum (organizer) (March 16-June 16, 1996). title: Looking at Children: Photographs from the Permanent Collection opening date: 2002-07-20T00:00:00 Looking at Children: Photographs from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (July 20-December 4, 2002). title: Gallery One 2012 opening date: 2012-12-12T05:00:00 Gallery One 2012. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 12, 2012-March 5, 2017). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * CMA, April 3 - May 5, 1985: "Year in Review 1984," CMA Bulletin, 72 (April 1985), p. 202, no. 46.
Cleveland, OH, Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, June 14 - August 14, 1994: "Old Glory: The American Flag in Contemporary Art." exhibition catalogue repr. p. 19, no. 17.
Phoenix, AZ, Phoenix Art Museum, March 16 - June 30, 1996: "Old Glory: The American Flag in Contemporary Art." exhibition catalogue repr. p. 19, no. 17. * Main gallery rotation (Gallery 229A): April 11, 2016 - --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: When this photograph was taken, Swiss-born Robert Frank had lived in the United States nine years. He included it in his groundbreaking book The Americans, comprising candid images of mundane aspects of American life that many considered unflattering to his new country. Here, the festive atmosphere usually associated with a holiday celebration is absent. Rather, a tattered, translucent flag, a boy's dismal expression, and the grainy, grayness of the image contribute to feelings of dullness and alienation. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996. page number: Reproduced: P. 168 url: --- IMAGES