1. Joseph Cornell American Sculptor 1903-1972

2. Jospeh Cornell had no formal training in art and his most characteristic works are his highly distinctive `boxes'. These are simple boxes, usually glass-fronted, in which he arranged surprising collections of photographs or Victorian bric-a-brac.

3. Cornell was fascinated not by refuse, garbage, and the discarded, but by fragments of once beautiful and precious objects, relying on the Surrealist technique of irrational juxtaposition and on the evocation of nostalgia for his appeal. He also painted and made Surrealist films.

4. The Hotel Eden c. 1945, construction, 15 1/8 x 15 3/4 x 4 3/4 inches He lived in a small house on Utopia Parkway in Flushing, a suburb of New York City. He shared his house with his mother, his brother…and hundreds of file boxes and files full of fascinating stuff that inspired his artwork.

5. untitled -Medici Princess-, mixed media, c1948. He liked living near New York, and he loved exploring its streets and neighborhoods. Old books, records, photographs, movie films, theater programs—- -the shops he visited were full of these things. He collected whatever struck his fancy, no matter how old or ordinary it might look to someone else.

6. Habitat Group for a Shooting Gallery, mixed media, 1943. Joseph Cornell was very shy and often sad, but he said that his boxes gave him "a world of complete happiness." An ideal world is sometimes called a utopia. Isn't it odd that Cornell make his "happy world" in a cluttered basement studio on Utopia Parkway?

7. untitled -Solar Set -, mixed media, c1956-58

8. The Admiral's Game, ca. 1950 American Sculpture Mixed media 12 in. x 18 in. x 4 in. (30.48 cm x 45.72 cm x 10.16 cm) (overall)

9. L'Egypte de Mlle Cleo de Merode, cours élémentaire d'histoire naturelle 1940 Construction, 4 11/16 x 10 11/16 x 7 1/4 in

10. A Parrot for Juan Gris Winter 1953-54 Construction, 17 3/4 x 12 3/16 x 4 5/8 in

11. Untitled (Cockatoo and Corks) c. 1948 Construction, 14 3/8 x 13 1/2 x 5 5/8 in

12. Web Resources used in this presentation  http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/cornell/  http://www.sackville.ednet.ns.ca/art/gallery/exhibit/p op/cornell.html  http://americanart.si.edu/education/cappy/13acornel lbio.html