The Fifties and the Anti-Fifties

The Fifties and the Anti-Fifties features eighteen photographs drawn from the group of 83 images Robert Frank published in the United States in 1959 in his seminal book The Americans. In the book, the Swiss-born photographer presents the American people, places, and events he encountered during a cross-country trip funded by a Guggenheim fellowship in 1955-56. Images in this exhibition show diverse aspects of American life at the time: teenagers hanging out in a New York candy store, an African-American nanny caring for a white infant in Charleston, South Carolina, a political rally in Chicago, newlyweds at city hall in Reno, among others. These photographs are signature Frank, with the distinctly straightforward style for which he is well known. While Jack Kerouac praised the poetic qualities of his work, others criticized these photographs as sloppy.

The Fifties and the Anti-Fifties is designed to supplement and complement the Ackland's other fall exhibition, Circa 1958: Breaking Ground in American Art. While the New York and California artists in Circa 1958 were "breaking ground" in art, Frank's images offer a stunning glimpse into American life on the streets, in the homes, and businesses that would experience the radical changes and tensions of the 1960s.

In addition, it coordinates with a course taught by Professor Robert Cantwell, Department of American Studies: The Anti-Fifties: Voices of a Counter Decade, which explores connections between 1950s America and the social and cultural revolutions that marked the decade that followed. Curated by Director of Academic Programs Carolyn Allmendinger with Professor Cantwell, this exhibition is on display in the Ackland's Perspectives gallery, a space devoted to exhibitions curated collaboratively with University faculty, staff, and students.