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The Robert Frank Collection

Mabou, Nova Scotia, 1977, 1992.103.2

Mabou, Nova Scotia, 1977, 1992.103.2

The Collection

The Robert Frank Collection at the National Gallery of Art is the largest repository of materials related to renowned photographer and filmmaker Robert Frank. Spanning Frank's career from 1937 to 2005, the collection includes vintage and later prints, contact sheets, work prints, negatives, three bound books of original photographs, technical material, and various papers, books, and recordings. 

For a complete account of photographs, contact sheets, and work prints in the collection, see Robert Frank photographs, contact sheets, and work prints in the collection. The spreadsheet lists subjects photographed by Frank, in chronological order, along with the corresponding number of photographs, contact sheets, and work prints in the collection and the accession number of each object.

To search the collection by title, key words, credit line, provenance, or accession number, please visit the National Gallery of Art collection search page.

Regarding titles: please note that many are descriptive only, derived either from information given by Robert Frank to the National Gallery, or from notes he wrote on the sleeves that held his negatives. Regarding dates: please note that at times corresponding prints and contact sheets have been assigned different dates. Like titles, dates have in most cases been provided by Frank and not always confirmed through historical research.