Saturday, March 15, 2025

Joseph Cornell

Joseph Cornell
Untitled
1934
collage on paper
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC


Joseph Cornell
Textile Design 
ca. 1934-35
tempera on paper
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC
 
Joseph Cornell
Bell-Jar Object
ca. 1939
assemblage
(paper elements suspended in bell-jar)
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Joseph Cornell
Fortune-Telling Parrot for Carmen Miranda
(Parrot Music Box)

ca. 1939
assemblage
(wood, glass, printed paper, found objects)
Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice

Joseph Cornell
Setting for a Fairy Tale
1942
assemblage
(wood, glass, printed paper, found objects)
Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice

Joseph Cornell
Zizi Jeanmaire
ca. 1949
assemblage
(manipulated photo, blue glass, customized frame)
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Joseph Cornell
Cockatoo: Keepsake Parakeet
ca. 1949-50
assemblage
(wood, screen, printed paper, found objects)
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Joseph Cornell
Grand Hôtel Bon Port
1952
assemblage
(wood, glass, printed paper, found objects)
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Joseph Cornell
Hôtel du Nord
ca. 1953
assemblage
(wood, glass, printed paper, found objects)
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Joseph Cornell
Andromeda: Grand Hôtel de l'Observatoire
1954
assemblage
(wood, glass, printed paper, found objects)
Guggenheim Museum, New York

Joseph Cornell
Space Object Box
ca. 1955
assemblage
(wood, glass, printed paper, found objects)
Guggenheim Museum, New York

Joseph Cornell
Celestial Navigation
ca. 1958
assemblage
(wood, glass, printed paper, found objects)
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Joseph Cornell
Sun Box
1960
assemblage
(wood, glass, printed paper, found objects)
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Joseph Cornell
Untitled
ca. 1960
collage on paper
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Joseph Cornell
Custodian M.M.
1962
assemblage
(wood, glass, printed paper, found objects)
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Joseph Cornell
Moon Phases, Eclipses and Tides
1962
collage on paper
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis

Joseph Cornell
7 Tears of Lucia (for Anna Moffo)
1964
assemblage
(wood, paper, cardboard, glass)
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Joseph Cornell
Allegra Kent
ca. 1965
collage on paper
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Joseph Cornell
Eclipsing Binary Algol with Magnitude Changes
ca. 1965
assemblage
(wood, glass, printed paper, found objects)
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis

Joseph Cornell
La Jeune Parque
ca. 1965
collage on paper
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Joseph Cornell
Weather Satellites
ca. 1965
collage on paper
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Joseph Cornell
The Trajectory of Ursa Major
1966
assemblage
(wood, glass, printed paper, found objects)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Joseph Cornell
La Duse
ca. 1967
collage on board
Guggenheim Museum, New York

Joseph Cornell
"They say the owl is a baker's daughter" - Ophelia
1971
watercolor and ink on paper
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Joseph Cornell
Hôtel du Nord
1972
screenprint
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

from The Sword in the Stone

I had arranged to join an old acquaintance for dinner.
There he was at our accustomed table;
the wine was poured; he was engaged with the waiter,
discussing the lamb.

As usual, a small argument erupted over dinner, ostensibly
concerning aesthetics. It was allowed to pass.

Outside, the bridge glittered.
Cars rushed back and forth, the river
glittered back, imitating the bridge. Nature
reflecting art: something to that effect.
My friend found the image potent.

He was a writer. His many novels, at the time,
were much praised. One was much like another.
And yet his complacency disguised suffering
as perhaps my suffering disguised complacency.
We had known each other many years.

Once again, I had accused him of laziness.
Once again, he flung the word back – 

He raised his glass and turned it upside down.
This is your purity, he said,
this is your perfectionism –
The glass was empty, it left no mark on the tablecloth.

– Louise Glück (2014)