Cornell, Joseph

Cornell, Joseph (1903-72). American sculptor, one of the pioneers and most celebrated exponents of assemblage.

He had no formal training in art and his most characteristic works are his highly distinctive `boxes'. These are simple boxes, usually glass-fronted, in which he arranged surprising collections of photographs or Victorian bric-à-brac in a way that has been said to combine the formal austerity of Constructivism with the lively fantasy of Surrealism. Like Kurt Schwitters he could create poetry from the commonplace. Unlike Schwitters, however, he was fascinated not by refuse, garbage, and the discarded, but by fragments of once beautiful and precious objects, relying on the Surrealist technique of irrational juxtaposition and on the evocation of nostalgia for his appeal (he befriended several members of the Surrealist movement who settled in the USA during the Second World War). Cornell also painted and made Surrealist films.

Tilly Losch
c. 1935 (100 Kb); Construction, 10 x 9 1/4 x 2 1/8 in; Collection Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Bergman, Chicago

Untitled (Soap Bubble Set)
1936 (140 Kb); Construction, 15 3/4 x 14 1/4 x 5 7/16 in; Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT

Defense d'Afficher Object
1939 (140 Kb); Construction, 8 15/16 x 13 15/16 x 2 1/8 in; Collection Denise and Andrew Saul

Object (Abeilles)
1940 (190 Kb); Construction, 9 1/8 x 14 1/8 x 3 7/16 in; Collection Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Wiseman, Beverly Hills, CA

L'Egypte de Mlle Cleo de Merode, cours élémentaire d'histoire naturelle
1940 (150 Kb); Construction, 4 11/16 x 10 11/16 x 7 1/4 in; Collection Richard L. Feigen, New York

Untitled (Bebe Marie)
Early 1940's (200 Kb); Construction, 23 3/8 x 12 5/16 x 5 1/4 in; The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Untitled
1942 (150 Kb); Construction, 13 1/8 x 10 x 3 1/2 in; Private collection, New York

Untitled (Medici Boy)
1942-52 (140 Kb); Construction, 13 15/16 x 11 3/16 x 3 7/8 in; Estate of Joseph Cornell

Object (Roses des Vents)
1942-53 (130 Kb); Construction, 2 5/8 x 21 1/4 x 10 3/8 in; The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Untitled (Pharmacy)
1943 (120 Kb); Construction, 15 1/4 x 12 x 3 1/8 in; Collection Mrs. Marcel Duchamp, Paris

Habitat Group for a Shooting Gallery
1943 (140 Kb); Construction, 15 1/2 x 11 1/8 x 4 1/4 in; Des Moines Art Center, Coffin Fine Arts

Untitled (The Hotel Eden)
c. 1945 (140 Kb); Construction, 15 1/8 x 15 3/4 x 4 3/4 in; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Untitled (Penny Arcade Portrait of Lauren Bacall)
1945-46 (110 Kb); Construction, 20 1/2 x 16 x 3 1/2 in; Collection Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Bergman, Chicago

Untitled (Grand Owl Habitat)
c. 1946 (120 Kb); Construction, 24 x 13 1/8 x 4 13/16 in; Collection Mr. and Mrs. Richard L. Kaplin, Toledo, OH

Untitled (Pink Palace)
c. 1946-48 (160 Kb); Construction, 10 x 16 7/16 x 3 3/4 in; Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco

Untitled (Paul and Virginia)
c. 1946-48 (150 Kb); Construction, 12 1/2 x 9 15/16 x 4 3/8 in; Collection Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Bergman, Chicago

Untitled (Cockatoo and Corks)
c. 1948 (120 Kb); Construction, 14 3/8 x 13 1/2 x 5 5/8 in; Private collection

Untitled (Medici Princess)
c. 1948 (150 Kb); Construction, 17 5/8 x 11 1/8 x 4 3/8 in; Private collection

Grand Hotel Semiramis
1950 (80 Kb); Construction, 18 x 11 7/8 x 4 in; Private collection, New York

Toward the Blue Peninsula
1951-52 (120 Kb); Construction, 10 5/8 x 14 15/16 x 3 15/16 in; Collection Daniel Varenne, Geneva

Untitled (Medici Prince)
c. 1952 (130 Kb); Construction, 15 1/2 x 11 1/2 x 5 in; Collection Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Shapiro, Oak Park, IL

Untitled (Hotel du Cygne)
c. 1952-55 (170 Kb); Construction, 19 3/16 x 12 3/4 x 4 1/2 in; Castelli Feigen Corcoran

A Parrot for Juan Gris
Winter 1953-54 (100 Kb); Construction, 17 3/4 x 12 3/16 x 4 5/8 in; Collection Paul Simon

Untitled (Apollinaris)
c. 1954 (170 Kb); Construction, 15 15/16 x 9 3/4 x 4 3/8 in; Collection Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Bergman, Chicago

Untitled (Solar Set)
c. 1956-58 (110 Kb); Construction, 11 1/2 x 16 1/4 x 3 5/8 in; Collection Donald Karshan, New York

Cassiopeia 1
c. 1960 (140 Kb); Construction, 9 7/8 x 14 7/8 x 3 3/4 in; Estate of Joseph Cornell

Verso of Cassiopeia 1
(160 Kb)

Photographs by Mark Harden.