Details

Title

Cassiopeia

Artist/Maker

Joseph Cornell (American, 1903–1972)

Date

ca. 1957

Medium

Box construction with paper, metal, photomechanical reproduction, tempera, clay, cork, glass, and wood

Dimensions

9 5/8 x 15 1/8 x 3 11/16 inches

Credit

Gift of The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation

Accession #

1993.157

On View

On View - Stent Family Wing, Skyway, Gallery 407

Joseph Cornell shared the European Surrealists’ fascination with the subconscious but approached his subjects with a romantic whimsy free from Surrealism’s ominous overtones. For Cornell, childhood represented unfettered imagination and provided an endless source of inspiration. Thus games and child-like fantasy are ever-present aspects of his work. Part of a series frequently referred to as Soap Bubble Sets, this work includes objects and themes that symbolize Cornell’s Dutch heritage, such as the white clay pipe. The blue ball represents both a soap bubble and the moon as it rolls across the sky—an allusion invoked by the title Cassiopeia, the name of a star.

Image Copyright

© The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation/VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York