Joseph Cornell (1903-1972)
From time to time, Christie's may offer a lot whic… Read more The Bergman Collection
Joseph Cornell (1903-1972)

Untitled (Fanny Ward)

Details
Joseph Cornell (1903-1972)
Untitled (Fanny Ward)
signed and dated 'Joseph Cornell 1945' (on a paper label affixed to the reverse)
wood box construction--wood, printed paper collage, paint, glass, clay pipe, black and white photo and velvet
10½ x 13 1/8 x 2 in. (26.6 x 33.3 x 5 cm.)
Executed in 1945.
Provenance
Richard Feigen, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner, 1976
Literature
L. Alloway, "The View from the 20th Century," Artforum, vol. 12, no. 5, January 1974, p. 45 (illustrated).
Exhibited
Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, American Art at Mid-Century, October 1973-January 1974, n.p. (illustrated).
New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, Joseph Cornell, February 1976-March 1976, pl. 26 (illustrated).
Houston, Institute for the Arts, Rice University, Joseph Cornell, September-December 1977.
New York, Museum of Modern Art and Art Institute of Chicago, Joseph Cornell, November 1980-March 1982, no. 67 (illustrated).
Washington, D.C., National Museum of American, Joseph Cornell: An Exploration of Sources, November 1982-February 1983.
Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Dada and Surrealism in Chicago Collections, December 1984-January 1985, p. 129 (illustrated).
Washington, D.C., Smithsonian American Art Museum and Salem, Peabody Essex Museum, Joseph Cornell: Navigating the Imagination, November 2006-February 2007, p. 189, pl. 64 (illustrated in color).
Special Notice
From time to time, Christie's may offer a lot which it owns in whole or in part. This is such a lot.

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Lot Essay

“Cornell was a master appropriator, using the images of artists he admired as his way of engaging them in a meaningful dialogue. He altered found objects in a desire to enhance their identity, whereas later artists have often preferred to use the unaltered object as a way of questioning its role in society. Issues of gender and politics held little or no interest for Cornell. Every ballet or concert that he attended every image by Vermeer, Gris, Duchamp, every ball, jack, and cockatoo had something unique to say to him. These images could be used over and over again, but each represented a different thought process and a different set of emotions. Each box relates to the others—they are complete in and of themselves, but indispensable to one another” (D. Waldman, Joseph Cornell: Master of Dreams, New York, 2002, p. 139).

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