A luminary of twentieth-century art, Frank included this enigmatic landscape in his groundbreaking publication The Americans (1958). Blocking access to the desert beyond, the anthropomorphic gas pumps punctuate the horizon, while the large SAVE sign seems to plead with the viewer. Like his other work on the road, this evocative composition is imbued with loneliness and foreboding.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Santa Fe, New Mexico
Artist:Robert Frank (American (born Switzerland), Zurich 1924–2019 Inverness, Nova Scotia)
Date:1955
Medium:Gelatin silver print
Dimensions:Image: 9 × 13 in. (22.9 × 33 cm)
Classification:Photographs
Credit Line:Gift of Eugene and Barbara Schwartz, 2014
Object Number:2014.745
Inscription: Signed in ink, recto BR: "Robert Frank"; printed Museum of Modern Art label with typed identifying data affixed to mount, verso BL: "159 // MUSEUM OF MODERN ART // 11 WEST 53RD STREET, NEW YORK 19, N. Y. // ARTIST: Robert Frank // "The Americans" 1955–57 // 39 // TITLE: Santa Fe, New Mexico // MEDIUM: Photograph // Lent by Photographer // MUSEUM NO: STORAGE SPACE: // COLLECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS"; MoMA loan label affixed to mount, verso BL "MUSEUM OF MODERN ART // LOAN // FRANK // 62.389"; masking tape with inscription in pencil, verso TR: "4201-I"
[...]; [Peter MacGill / Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York, sold November 1992]; Barbara Schwartz, New York
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Photographs by Harry Callahan and Robert Frank," January 29, 1962–April 1, 1962.
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. "Robert Frank: Moving Out," October 2, 1994–January 31, 1995.
Yokohama Museum of Art. "Robert Frank: Moving Out," February 11, 1995–April 12, 1995.
Robert Frank (American (born Switzerland), Zurich 1924–2019 Inverness, Nova Scotia)
1959
Resources for Research
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's Department of Photographs houses a collection of more than 75,000 works spanning the history of photography from its invention in the 1830s to the present.
