Joseph Cornell

by Kynaston McShine (Editor), Dawn Ades (Contributor), Carter Ratcliff (Contributor)

Joseph Cornell remains one of the most popular artists of the 20th century. This work provides an insight into the artist's remarkable inner world: a universe populated with empty cages, mirrors, clay pipes, postage stamps, marbles, thimbles and paper scraps, Cornell collected in his basement repository and fashioned into self-contained constructions, montages, collages and films. The artist's relationship to both American and European Romanticism, his involvement with the Surrealist movement, the peculiar mechanics of his work, and a glimpse at his cinematic explorations are accompanied by an illuminating biography and numerous illustrations. This survey brings to life the work of a brilliant artist whose imaginative re-ordering of the world's chaos is still as inspirational as ever.

Genres: Art, Art History, Nonfiction

295 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1980

About the author

Kynaston McShine (born 1935) is a Trinidadian-born museum curator. In 1966, as curator at the Jewish Museum, he organized the first museum survey of minimalist art, Primary Structures (1966 exhibition). At the Museum of Modern Art, where he became associate curator in 1968, he initiated the innovative Projects series and has organized some of the museum’s most important exhibitions, including the early survey of conceptual art, Information (1970); exhibitions of Marcel Duchamp (1973), Joseph Cornell (1980), and Andy Warhol (1989); The Museum as Muse: Artists Reflect (1999); Edvard Munch: The Modern Life of the Soul (2006); Richard Serra Sculpture: Forty Years (2007). He has held positions in the MOMA's Department of Painting and Sculpture as Associate Curator, 1968–71; Curator of Exhibitions, 1971–84; Senior Curator, 1984–2001; Acting Chief Curator 2001-03 and Chief Curator at Large, 2003-2008. In 2003, McShine was the recipient of the CCS Bard for curatorial excellence.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

A series of essays to be enjoyed at my leisure.

6/11 The healing continues!

A series of academic essays relating to Cornell's life and vision written at the time of a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1980. Think of what Buddhists call the Mystic Law - the unexplainable - what can't be put into words, here it's done with intellect and passion, beginning with an introductory essay by Kynaston McShine, followed by Dawn Ades, Carter Ratcliff, P. Adams Sitney and Lynda Roscoe Hartigan.

Ades focuses on threads found in his notes and diaries, exhibitions he attended and participated in, colleagues and friends he met at Julien Levy and Egan galleries, his work at Dance Index and connections with Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, French writers, his fascination with victorian toys and how, in her view with which I agree, his works are cohesive rather than fragmented as many Surrealist's works are.

Ratcliff looks to trompe l'oeil still life painting by William Harnett, Edward A. Goodes, Charles Bird King; architecture, 18th C engravings (esp. Piranesi, Hogarth, Zoffany); Cornell's connection with Emily Dickenson; cabinetry; and the mechanical aspect of his work with this amusing insight:

"Cornell transformed his workshop into an enchanted assembly line. Turning out box after box each a slight variation on one of a few basic models. Cornell shows something in common with Henry Ford."

P. Adams Sitney studies Cornell's work in film so vividly I both longed to see the films and felt I had already seen them in my mind's eye. It's a great resource for the collage films he made, works he directed and others he edited. Cornell had many screenings at his home and travelled with his records and projector to give screenings at other venues.

The book concludes with Hartigan's final essay on Cornell's life, a loving and thoughtful biography of his early years in Nyack and Andover, working in Manhattan and developing relationship with the art world, religious inspiration, home life, friendships, humor and desire to leave a legacy.

[DrRingDing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great scholarly analysis of Cornell's work in collages, boxes, and films.

[Tosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very early catalogue (?) of Cornell's work. First of all he's a genius. Is there any doubt about this fact? And it's a fact! The way he filters the outside culture into his own world sort of reminds me of Morrissey. I know a strange connection, but think about it. Really think about it!

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

ephemera ecstatica! if you ever wanted a robin egg under a glass bell, look no further.

[Haruna · Rating 5 out of 5]

always my favorite.