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Sculpture of Medardo Rosso: Metamorphosis

Maker (American, 1903 - 1972)
ClassificationsCOLLAGES
Daten.d.
Mediumon the rough side of a fiberboard panel: magazine photo of wax bust by Medardo Rosso, stained black-brown overall; verso covered with manilla paper with large gray stain
Dimensions12 1/16 x 9 in. (30.6 x 22.9 cm.)
SignedSigned in lower center of verso in black ink: Joseph Cornell
InscribedSigned in lower center of verso in black ink: Joseph Cornell Inscribed in upper center of verso in black ink: Sculpture of Medardo Rosso Inscribed in lower center of verso in black ink: Metamorphosis-- / by / Joseph Cornell
Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Gift of the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation
Copyright© The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation / VAGA, New York
Label TextCornell linked himself to the history of art by including images of other artists' work in his own. Here, he featured a photograph of a sculpture by 19th-century Italian artist Medardo Rosso. Rosso blurred distinctions between painting and sculpture by creating three-dimensional objects with shallow, unified surfaces meant to be seen from a single angle. Like Rosso's, Cornell's work defies placement into traditional art historical categories. The idea of metamorphosis-conveyed in Rosso's sculpture by the human form materializing from wax-would have appealed to Cornell, who transformed everyday, often discarded objects into high art.
Status
Not on view
Object number2005.19.4
Terms
    Untitled
    Joseph Cornell
    November 13, 1967
    Object number: 2005.19.7
    Untitled
    Joseph Cornell
    n.d.
    Object number: 2005.19.6
    Untitled
    Joseph Cornell
    n.d.
    Object number: 2005.19.2
    Untitled
    Joseph Cornell
    n.d.
    Object number: 2005.19.5
    Mountain Passes of ......"  (Mountain Passes of Heaven)
    Joseph Cornell
    1965
    Object number: 2005.19.8
    Untitled
    Joseph Cornell
    n.d.
    Object number: 2005.19.1
    Untitled (Laurel?)
    Joseph Cornell
    March 10, 1969
    Object number: 2005.19.3
    Untitled
    Joseph Cornell
    n.d.
    Object number: 2005.19.10
    Untitled
    Joseph Cornell
    n.d.
    Object number: 2005.19.9
    Untitled
    Joseph Cornell
    n.d.
    Object number: 2005.19.11
    Romare Bearden
    1969
    Object number: 2019.7