Early New York City 11
c. 1949-1950
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
contact sheet
Dimensions
overall: 20.1 x 25.2 cm (7 15/16 x 9 15/16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Robert Frank Collection, Gift of Robert Frank
Accession Number
1990.28.1221
Art Historical Context
"Early New York City 11" is a captivating contact sheet by Swiss-born photographer Robert Frank, created around 1949-1950. Measuring just 20.1 x 25.2 cm, this gelatin silver print captures the raw energy of postwar New York through a grid of small, sequential images—essentially a proof sheet made by printing negatives in direct contact with paper. Donated from Frank's own collection to the National Gallery of Art, it offers an intimate glimpse into his early experimentation in the bustling streets of America, shortly after his arrival from Europe in 1947. Contact sheets like this one are trea...
About the Artist
Robert Frank
Robert Frank (1924-2019) was a Swiss-American photographer and documentary filmmaker whose revolutionary approach to documentary photography fundamentally transformed the medium and influenced generations of artists. Born in Zurich, Switzerland, on November 9, 1924, to a middle-class Jewish family, Frank began his photographic apprenticeship in 1941, working with commercial photographers before im...