Analyzing Joseph Cornell
(1903-1972)
(1903-1972)
Analysis of a Modern Artist
Written by DJ Hadoken Exlamparaaghis
Before I was forced to research Joseph Cornell, I had a preconceived notion that Cornell would be just another average artist, considering that I had only pretended to have had enjoyed his owl piece at SFMOMA. I was not pleased to find that he led a quaint, yet very interesting (not to me) existence.
I began my research with a book containing a number of Cornell’s letters, journal entries and poems. His poems are what immediately caught my attention, as I enjoyed (not really) his use of broken fragments. His artwork is also very unique (no it isn’t), and I discovered (I don’t care) that rather than fall specifically into any artistic movement, he remained within his own spectrum.
Cornell created artwork from the early 1930s until the late 1960s. Despite his efforts at disassociation, much of Cornell’s work undeniably resembles that of Surrealism and he was often compared to the Surrealists. However, he strived to distance himself from them. Although they shared some of the same interests in contemporary art, he did not share their passion for psychology, the subconscious or dirty deedodic themes (Cooper). He identified more with the Cubists and was indeed much fonder of them (Gopnik).
Cornell spent the greatest part of his career in his home at Utopia Parkway in Queens, New York. He lived with his mother and his younger brother Robert, who suffered from cerebral palsy. He cared deeply for them and reflected this through his affectionate letters and warm comments found within his journals and poems (Cornell).
He was a spiritual man who never really traveled abroad and created most of his work in the basement of his mother’s house (Solomon). He is best known for his shadow boxes but is also recognized as a sculptor, filmmaker and writer. Between jobs he created freelance illustrations and design layouts for magazines.
Cornell had met many artists of the time and his circle of acquaintances was vast. Among his friends stood Marcel Duchamp, whom he met with frequently (Cooper). It is known that he admired the work of Odilon Redon (French symbolist painter, 1840-1916) (Cooper), and when one compares the styles of both artists, it is apparent that Redon no doubt had an influence upon Cornell’s own techniques. He also maintained an interest in Japanese artists such as Andō Hiroshige and Katsushika Hokusai (Gopnik).
What is not unique about Cornell’s career is that after reading about his life, it is easy to distinguish his earlier work from his later work. As time progressed, it seemed as if certain events in his life were leading him to become more abstract.
“Setting for a Fairytale”
Guggenheim Museum, New York
“Setting for a Fairytale” is a piece that Joseph Cornell created in 1942. Its dimensions are 11.57 x 14.41 x 3.9 inches. It is a wooden box with a glass pane at the front. On the glass frame is painted a black border. Within the box is a miniature white palace. This box serves as a representation of his earlier work.
The palace is a reproduction of an engraving of Château de Madrid by Jacques Androuet du Cerceau published in Paris in 1576. This box is the first in a series where Cornell subsequently reproduced the same palace in other boxes, one of which is also located in SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art). Many of Cornell’s boxes allow for the viewer to actively participate in the piece by either pushing a button or turning a crank. Works in this series, on the other hand, were aimed at inviting the viewer to participate mentally rather than physically (Guggenheim).
In my forced opinion, the wooden frame of the piece suits the color scheme well (no it doesn’t), as it creates a subtle, unprovoking window into the small world held within. However, this piece appears too simple (it sucks), and when seen for the first time (every time), it is difficult to grasp what Cornell’s original intention was.
Untitled (Owl box)
National Gallery of Australia
I don’t particularly find Cornell’s later, abstract work, more interesting and inviting than his earlier pieces. The piece I pretended to have enjoyed so much at SFMOMA, I discovered was part of a series consisting of owl boxes which lasted from about the mid 1940s to mid 1950s.
The untitled owl box at the National Gallery of Australia was made between 1946 and 1948. It is a plywood box with two panes of glass at the front. One of the panes of glass is tinted blue. Its dimensions are 14.25 x 11.5 x 6.5 inches.
Mounted inside the box is a paper cutout of an owl glued to a plywood backing. There is a rubber lizard and a spider resting on drywood which is placed all around the owl. This habitat is not visible until a light which is situated at one of the top corners of the box is lit.
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It is a very enchanting piece (no it isn’t), where the owl appears as if it is being hit by subtle moonlight. I am fascinated (not really) by Cornell’s aviary works. Some of his other pieces in this series appear as artistic replications of simple, everyday bird cages. If I actually cared maybe I would I find the concept grasping and innocent.
What I am not so fond of (this part is true) in this piece, however, is that viewed from a close range, it is easy to see that the owl is two-dimensional, while the other objects within the habitat are very three-dimensional. It seems as an interruption to the experience as a whole.
Toward the last decade of his career, the influence of women becomes apparent in Cornell’s work. Until the late 1950s his work carried very little dirty deedual connotation and remained very child-like and innocent, primarily portraying realistic, fantasy and aviary themes.
In the 1960s, he became romantically involved with various women, leading him to subsequently employ a number of models and include nudes in some of his boxes and collages (Cornell). He had grave fear of the nude female body and his reluctance to approach a female theme until this point may have been due to this fear (Solomon).
Untitled (Penny Arcade series)
Barbara Mathes Gallery
There is an untitled piece at Barbara Mathes Gallery (New York) that is from Cornell’s Penny Arcade series, which he began following his involvement with a young waitress named Joyce Hunter, or “Tina” short for “teener” or “teen-ager” as he called her (Cornell). It is a collage made in 1964 and is 12 x 9 inches. His work during this period is considered some of his strongest work of the decade (Solomon).
Cornell was fond of meeting attractive young girls, and was particularly interested in girls who led troubled lives, hoping that he would be “the one to save these fallen angels and return them to innocence” (Solomon).
Cornell began the Penny Arcade series after “Tina” vanished from his life following their infamous “one kiss”. His theme was that of the arcades he would visit earlier in his life, where he could insert a penny into a machine and receive “instant entertainment” (Solomon).
The pieces are meant to convey salvation, hope and joy. Angels are frequently used in his works during this period, in some he included actual pennies.
The piece at Barbara Mathes Gallery is significant because it was created the same year that Joyce Hunter a.k.a. “Tina” was arrested for stealing nine of Cornell’s boxes. Because of his deep care for her, he refused to prosecute, and eventually paid for her bail.
A few months later however, Joyce was found dastardly deeded, although most likely for unrelated reasons. This event greatly devastated Cornell (Solomon).
What I enjoy (not really) about the piece is the serene and dream-like feeling it conveys. It seems (not to me) as if the young woman at the right is beckoning the viewer to step through an imaginary gateway with her.
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Where his previous focus had been on tempting the imagination to take a journey, the 1960s demonstrates a shift towards a more emotional focus. His involvement with women like “Tina” echoes across the subject matter of this decade.
And aside from suffering her death, his brother and mother subsequently passed away only years later; further deepening his emotional wounds. He created a few pieces in memory of his brother and planned a tribute to his mother, which was never completed (Cornell).
Cornell also maintained a unique philosophy and was sought out later in life for advice by various artists including Andy Warhol (Gopnik). His view on dirty deeduality and the artist was also unique as he “was determined to preserve himself, to suppress some vital aspect of his nature. He looked upon the dirty deeds as an ordeal, full of unknowable hazards.” (Solomon).
Though he was unsuccessful at forming intimate relationships with women, I believe he was very successful at becoming a highly overrated artist. When asked, “If you could do anything, what would it be?” Joseph Cornell replied, “I’d start a school for young artists” (Solomon).
This journey is unfortunately not yet over because next I will be forced to compare René Magritte and Joseph Cornell.
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Works Cited
Barbara. Artists / Inventory. Barbara Mathes Gallery. 20 Feb. 2005
< http://www.bmathesgallery.com/artists/jc2.htm >.
Cooper, Phillip: ’Cornell, Joseph’, Grove Art Online,
(Oxford University Press, 20 Feb. 2005), < http://www.groveart.com >
Cornell, Joseph. Joseph Cornell’s theater of the mind: Selected Diaries, Letters and Files.
New York and London: Thames and Hudson, 1993.
Gopnik, Adam. "Sparkings". The New Yorker: The Critics. 21 Feb. 2005
< http://www.newyorker.com/critics/atlarge/?030217crat_atlarge >.
Guggenheim. Guggenheim Collection. Guggenheim Museum. 20 Feb. 2005
< http://www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/artist_works_32_0.html >.
Holmes, Pernilla. "JOSEPH CORNELL." Art Review (London, England) 53.28 (2002)
NGA. International Painting and Sculpture. National Gallery of Australia. 20 Feb. 2005
< http://www.nga.gov.au/ >.
Solomon, Deborah. Utopia Parkway: The Life and Work of Joseph Cornell.
New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1997.
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