Joseph Cornell Surrealistic Boxes Ms. Stanberry Reference:

About the Man He was not a sculptor, a draftsman, or a painter. This internationally known artist was never formally trained. He was not a sculptor, a draftsman, or a painter. This internationally known artist was never formally trained. He was first and foremost a collector. He was first and foremost a collector. The oldest of four children he grew up in Nyack, New York. The oldest of four children he grew up in Nyack, New York. Music was a large influence in his family. Music was a large influence in his family.

Behind The Boxes “By collecting and carefully juxtaposing found objects in small, glass-front boxes, Cornell created visual poems in which surface, form, texture, and light play together. Using things we can see, Cornell made boxes about things we cannot see: ideas, memories, fantasies, and dreams.” Untitled (Soap Bubble Set) 1936

“He was a kind of magician, turning everyday objects into mysterious treasures. In Homage to the Romantic Ballet, plastic ice cubes become jewels when set in a velvet-lined box, souvenirs of a famous ballerina's midnight performance on the frozen Russian steppe.” -Joan Summers Homage to the Romantic Ballet, 1942

Tilly Losch c. 1935

L'Egypte de Mlle Cleo de Merode, cours élémentaire d'histoire naturelle 1940

Untitled (Medici Boy)

Untitled (The Hotel Eden) c. 1945

Works Inspired By Cornell

Plastic, 2006 Tika Simone box construction, my imagination This box is about the real and the fake or plastic world we live in. What I've learned by doing this project is with art you have to start with one idea and expand, rather than starting with several ideas and narrow it down. I enjoyed this project and find Cornell very interesting.

Snow Woods, 2006 Klara Henry box construction This box represents woods on a winter night. I brought in a wolf, two bear cubs, and a bear adult. I put tree branches, painted a lake, put some rocks in, and put a skeleton in as well to make a forest.

Jerry Garcia-inspired Cornell Box, 2010 Morgan Butts This semester one of our final projects was to create a Joseph Cornell box about somebody we felt passionate about. Whether it was passionate love or hate was up to us to decide. While many of my classmates were upset we could not choose family members, I knew right away who I would choose. Choosing Jerry Garcia was just as good as choosing my dad because I knew he would love it.