Exquisite Surprise: The Papers of Joseph Cornell
In his personal papers, as in his art, Joseph Cornell embraced life's evanescence. Known mainly for his shadow box constructions, Cornell documented his passion for "exquisite surprises"—the poignant connections between memory and sensory experience. He recorded his impressions of music, art, ballet, his art, and the intertwined sensations of seeing, feeling, and remembering in his diaries and on scraps of paper—the backs of envelopes, magazine clippings, and wrapping papers.
Deeply romantic, with wide-ranging cultural interests, Cornell kept "dossiers" on people with whom he felt a special relationship-real or imagined-including actresses, singers, artists, ballerinas, and writers. He also collected source material for his exploration of such subjects as astronomy, books, birds, butterflies, clouds, poetry, stamps and sunsets.
This exhibition reveals Cornell's sense of wonder through his private communications, personal musings, and collected ephemera. For a more detailed description of the Archives' collection, see the Joseph Cornell papers, 1804-1986 bulk 1939-1972.
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Robert Motherwell teaching at Black Mountain Rock
- Date
- ca. 1945
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Hans Namuth postcard to Joseph Cornell
- Date
- 1967 May 9
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'a yellowthroat in the shrubbery in the afternoon'
- Date
- 1967 May 11
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Common squirrel; House mouse; Rat
- Date
- between 1880 and 1940
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Three bird cutouts
- Date
- 19--
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Robert Cornell Memorial Exhibition
- Date
- 1966 Jan. 4-29
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Robert Cornell letter to Elizabeth Cornell Benton
- Date
- 1948 May 21
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Joseph Cornell postcard to Elizabeth Cornell Benton
- Date
- 1948 Jul 6
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Joseph Cornell: Sun in the Snow
- Date
- 1976
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