Avenue du Maine, Paris

1949-1950 · Photograph

Can I see it?

Not on view at present

Where is “Avenue du Maine, Paris” now? Collection: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.

National Gallery of Art

Washington, D.C., United States

It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.

Checked: 11 days ago
In this state since: Aug 19, 2026
Source: The museum

On the map Museum page

Details

Accession number: 1993.28.1

What it shows

Group

In the catalog

Photographs Gelatin silver print Post-war art 20th century American

Sources

National Gallery of Art
Image: National Gallery of Art — © the artist or rights holder

In the life of Robert Frank

The whole life

1947
Emigrates to the United States
He emigrates to the United States and secures a job in New York City as a fashion photographer for Harper’s Bazaar.
1949
Camera magazine: the “new photography” of Switzerland
The new editor of Camera magazine, Walter Laubli, publishes a substantial portfolio of Jakob Tuggener alongside the work of the 25-year-old Frank, who has just returned to his native Switzerland after two years abroad, including some of his first pictures from New York; the magazine promotes the two as representatives of the “new photography” of Switzerland. Tuggener, first mentioned to him by his boss and mentor, the Zurich commercial photographer Michael Wolgensinger, becomes a role model for the younger artist.
1949–1950
Travels in South America and Europe; a hand-made book on Peru
He soon leaves again to travel in South America and Europe, creates another hand-made book of photographs shot in Peru, and returns to the U.S. in 1950.
1950
The group show “51 American Photographers” at MoMA
The year is momentous for Frank: after meeting Edward Steichen he takes part in the group show 51 American Photographers at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).
1950
Married: Mary Frank
1950–1953
Disillusionment with America and a brief move to Paris
Though initially optimistic about American society and culture, Frank’s perspective quickly changes as he confronts the fast pace of American life and what he sees as an overemphasis on money: he now sees America as an often bleak and lonely place, and his dissatisfaction with the control editors exercise over his work colors the experience. He continues to travel, moving his family briefly to Paris.