Die Tiere (Animals) 1-12 1942 - 1946

Robert Frank’s photographic grid, “Die Tiere (Animals) 1-12”, offers a chorus of creatures frozen in time. You have to imagine him there in the moment, the light just so, figuring out how to capture these animals. I can feel his energy in this work. I mean, what was he thinking? Was he trying to give us a zoo? Or a farm? Or the world? Look at number 3, that sad creature behind bars. Or is it smiling? I can’t tell. I’m sure Frank was playing with light and form, with what can be seen and not seen. Think of the zebra staring straight at you! And then the tiny bird in number 10. It’s a bit of a muddle of scales. Frank reminds us that art-making is about looking, thinking, and feeling. Like Helen Frankenthaler, he uses the element of chance and the unexpected. One thing leads to the next, and the animals accumulate until they become a picture of something else entirely.