Untitled

Maker Joseph Cornell (American, 1903 - 1972)

ClassificationsCOLLAGES

Daten.d.

Mediumon the rough side of a fiberboard panel: photostat of black and white photo of close-up of medieval/ramanesque grill-work showing a deer entwined in arabesques, stained blue and pink overall; verso covered with paper stained brown and purple

Dimensions12 x 9 in. (30.5 x 22.9 cm.)

SignedSigned in lower center of verso in faded black ink on yellow graphite: Joseph Cornell

InscribedSigned in lower center of verso in faded black ink on yellow graphite: Joseph Cornell Inscribed in upper left of verso in graphite: cire ok [?] Inscribed in upper left of verso in graphite: to 9 x 12/ heavy duty frame [underlined]

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Gift of the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation

Status

Not on view

Label TextThe Celtic design Cornell featured in this collage reflects his interest in abstraction. He had incorporated geometric abstraction into his boxes as early as the 1940s, and by the 1960s explored organic forms. The seemingly careless drips of blue pigment in the upper left may denote the influence of the gestural painting style of Abstract Expressionists. In the 1940s and 1950s, Cornell became friends with several artists associated with Abstract Expressionism, including Robert Motherwell, Franz Kline, and Willem de Kooning.

Object number2005.19.2

Terms