FRANK (Robert). - Lot 109

FRANK (Robert). Paris. Göttingen, Steidl - Jeu de Paume, 2011. Large quarto, publisher's hardcover with photographic dust jacket. French first edition of this major work devoted to the Parisian photographs of Robert Frank (1924–2019). Published to coincide with the exhibition at the Jeu de Paume, the volume brings together images taken between 1949 and 1952, a formative period in the photographer’s career, prior to the publication of *The Americans*. These photographs, taken in the streets, cafés, markets, and working-class neighborhoods of the capital, already reveal Frank’s distinctive vision: free compositions, the play of shadows and reflections, people captured in their daily lives, and an atmosphere that is both poetic and melancholic. The book reproduces this entire historic series in prints of remarkable quality, faithful to the original prints. Published by Steidl, a leading publisher of major contemporary photography books, this volume is now considered one of the finest editions dedicated to Robert Frank’s early European work. Condition: slight wear on the dust jacket with a few signs of use and a price tag on the back cover; interior perfectly clean; very good copy.