Robert Frank
Mary, Provincetown

ExpandFavorite

Images(3)

Artist Robert Frank (American, born Switzerland, 1924–2019)American, born Switzerland, 1924–2019

CultureAmerican

Titles

Mary, Provincetown

Date1958

PlaceProvincetown, Massachusetts, United States

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 13 1/16 × 8 5/8 in. (33.1 × 21.8 cm)
Sheet: 14 1/16 × 10 15/16 in. (35.7 × 27.8 cm)

Credit LineGift of P/K Associates

Object number84.1001

Not on view

Explore Further

Department

Photography

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

DescriptionAttracted to the openness of the snapshot, artists in the 1950s began to draw on qualities of the vernacular aesthetic that gave them license to break basic rules of photographic practice. Garry Winogrand and Lee Friedlander, following others like Robert Frank, explored cities and traveled the country with handheld cameras. Their style of street photography exploited the haphazard or generic accidents of the amateur—blurred or out-of-focus imagery, off-kilter horizon lines, awkward cropping, double exposure, and the jarring inclusion of their own shadow. Frank inserted himself into a picture of his wife Mary at the beach, obscuring her face with his own shadow.
ProvenanceP/K Associates, New York; given to MFAH, 1984.
Exhibition HistoryExhibited: "Robert Frank: A Retrospective from the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston," Cameron Foundation Gallery, July 14 - October 14, 2001.

“In A Snap: The Art of Vernacular Photography,” The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 12, 2014–February 22, 2015.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

bottom left below image in ink " Mary 1961 "
verso middle right in pencil " 7- 90 "

bottom right below image in ink " R. Frank "

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.