Bal des Beaux Arts 4 1949

Curator: We are looking at Robert Frank’s “Bal des Beaux Arts 4,” a gelatin silver print from 1949. Editor: Immediately, I’m struck by its documentary feel. Raw and unvarnished. It feels less like a finished piece and more like a preliminary sketch of something larger. Curator: Indeed. Frank was experimenting with capturing fleeting moments of social life. The "Bal des Beaux Arts" was a grand costume ball at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Editor: What catches my eye is the assembly. Four strips of film on paper: an array of fragmented narratives. I imagine the darkroom as a kind of workbench here—evidence of Frank’s labor is present. He seems to expose a truth-telling act, or rather a method. Curator: Precisely, the use of photography to document events like the Beaux Arts ball reflects a democratization of image making. Prior, fine art occupied that space. We see, also, a shift in who got to represent these events—artists are able to insert themselves and offer social critique in real time. Editor: The way he displays these individual frames as strips allows for comparison; we notice the textures and light shifts, giving depth to the image and also bringing into consideration all of the steps taken for each of the photos, not to mention each participant behind the camera. It suggests photography as both representation and physical object. Curator: And consider that the ball itself, as a performance, was meant to display student work and celebrate the art world—but here, Frank captures more than the aesthetic performance of these students; he suggests commentary of these people themselves. It prompts me to ask how cultural institutions stage such grand events for whom? Editor: Frank seems focused on documenting process—on the materiality and craft embedded in the whole exercise from production to printing. It speaks to a democratization not only of subject matter but the creative act itself. Curator: Thank you. It does underscore Frank’s commitment to portraying society with a candid and critical eye. Editor: And also how method itself becomes subject, reminding us to appreciate labor that generates the art objects we appreciate today.