GENERAL DESCRIPTION
American sculptor Joseph Cornell was born in 1903 in Nyack, New York and studied at the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He moved to Flushing, New York in 1929 where, without any formal training, he began painting and making assemblages and later experimented with film making. Cornell had his first exhibition in New York in 1932. He is best known for his enclosed constructions, assemblages of various objects and clippings, irrationally juxtaposed within picture-frame boxes. These works are characterized by a still, remote, and nostalgic quality, with their allusions to both geographical and temporal distances achieved through historical references and through cosmological elements. The world of Cornell's constructions are remarkably distant and hermetic in visual terms as well; objects are placed behind glass panes and are often individually encased or reflected with the use of mirrors. They have been referred to as "star maps of a private universe."
Joseph Cornell's mysterious conglomerations of images and objects contained within the framework of a shallow box present any number of associations that almost seem to be illustrations of a dream. In making his sculptures, Cornell relied on the fact that everyone brings to objects certain associations that are inescapable, and when these objects themselves seem to have a history and a certain relation to those around them, the impact can be startling and even unnerving in its uncanny, déjà-vu directness.
Adapted from
- Charles Wylie, "From Object to Image: Sculpture, Installation, Media," in Fast forward: contemporary collections for the Dallas Museum of Art, eds. María de Corral and John R. Lane (Dallas Museum of Art ; New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2007), 223-227.
- DMA unpublished material.
NOTES
- DMA unpublished material = "Modern American Artists," p. 3. In education files.
ASSOCIATED CONTENT CHUNKS (list applicable note links)
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
- The Art Story~Learn more about Joseph Cornell's art practice and works.
- ArtsConnectEd~View some teaching resources about Joseph Cornell's boxes.
- WebMuseum, Paris~View more boxes by Joseph Cornell.
- The Getty Research Institute, Special Collections~Learn more about Cornell's ideas and relationships in this article about the collection of correspondence.
- Peabody Essex Museum~Engage Joseph Cornell's works with this interactive.
- Royal Academy of Arts YouTube~Learn about how Joseph Cornell became an artist.
- UbuWeb Film & Video~Watch films made by Joseph Cornell and various collaborators dating from 1930 to the 1960s.
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES (digitized/non-digitized)
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
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General Description
American sculptor Joseph Cornell was born in 1903 in Nyack, New York and studied at the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He moved to Flushing, New York in 1929 where, without any formal training, he began painting and making assemblages and later experimented with film making. Cornell had his first exhibition in New York in 1932. He is best known for his enclosed constructions, assemblages of various objects and clippings, irrationally juxtaposed within picture-frame boxes. These works are characterized by a still, remote, and nostalgic quality, with their allusions to both geographical and temporal distances achieved through historical references and through cosmological elements. The world of Cornell's constructions are remarkably distant and hermetic in visual terms as well; objects are placed behind glass panes and are often individually encased or reflected with the use of mirrors. They have been referred to as "star maps of a private universe."
Joseph Cornell's mysterious conglomerations of images and objects contained within the framework of a shallow box present any number of associations that almost seem to be illustrations of a dream. In making his sculptures, Cornell relied on the fact that everyone brings to objects certain associations that are inescapable, and when these objects themselves seem to have a history and a certain relation to those around them, the impact can be startling and even unnerving in its uncanny, déjà-vu directness.
Adapted from
- Charles Wylie, "From Object to Image: Sculpture, Installation, Media," in Fast forward: contemporary collections for the Dallas Museum of Art, eds. María de Corral and John R. Lane (Dallas Museum of Art ; New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2007), 223-227.
- DMA unpublished material.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
(digitized/non-digitized)
Web Resources
- The Art Story~Learn more about Joseph Cornell's art practice and works.
- ArtsConnectEd~View some teaching resources about Joseph Cornell's boxes.
- WebMuseum, Paris~View more boxes by Joseph Cornell.
- The Getty Research Institute, Special Collections~Learn more about Cornell's ideas and relationships in this article about the collection of correspondence.
- Peabody Essex Museum~Engage Joseph Cornell's works with this interactive.
- Royal Academy of Arts YouTube~Learn about how Joseph Cornell became an artist.
- UbuWeb Film & Video~Watch films made by Joseph Cornell and various collaborators dating from 1930 to the 1960s.
Notes
- DMA unpublished material = "Modern American Artists," p. 3. In education files.
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artists_and_designers-0194.xml.nores