Image scanned and/or photographed, then color-corrected by Pat Cagney.

Funeral, Saint Helena, South Carolina

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

CultureAmerican

Date1955-56

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsOverall, Image: 7 7/8 × 11 13/16 in. (20 × 30 cm)
Overall: 10 15/16 × 14 in. (27.8 × 35.6 cm)
Overall, Mat: 16 x 20 in. (40.6 x 50.8 cm)

Credit LinePurchase, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. Menschel

Object number82.18

Not on view

DescriptionThis is a silver print photograph depicting a group of black men standing by their cars at a funeral.

Label TextRobert Frank American (b. Switzerland, 1924) Funeral, St. Helena, South Carolina, 1955-56 Gelatin-silver print Purchase, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. Menschel 82.18 From his non-native observer's position, Robert Frank made incisive photographs exposing the underside of 1950s American culture. In 1955, Frank was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship which he used to explore America with his camera. In two years he made some 20,000 images that were published in his landmark book The Americans. First published in France in 1958, and then in the United States in 1959, this book confirmed the emergence of a new subjectivity in American photography and established Frank as one of the most important and influential small-camera photographers in the medium's history. After the publication of the book, Frank began to make films and is now widely recognized for his directorial innovation. Edited By: GLY Edited Date: 09/2004 Approved By: MHM Approval Date: 09/21/2005Exhibition History"The Portrait in America," The Alice R. and Sol B. Frank Photography Galleries, The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va., January 26 - April 8, 1990. "In the Driver's Seat: Cars and Our Culture," Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News, Va., September 14 - November 4, 2001. "Photography Speaks," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., Alice R. and Sol B. Frank Photo Galleries, September 4, 2004 - January 2, 2005. Published ReferencesBrooks Johnson, _The Portrait in America_, exh. cat., The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va., 1990, 8, 51.