Soap Bubble Set
<p>Joseph Cornell’s box constructions present highly personal reflections on art, nature, history, and memory through the unexpected juxtaposition of found objects and printed material. Here he included glasses, pipes, and round disks to recollect the youthful activity of blowing soap bubbles. Their placement in front of a diagram of the Copernican planetary system, however, suggests a more universal significance. Cornell produced other Soap Bubble Set boxes, and he later recalled about them that “Shadow boxes become poetic theatres or settings wherein are metamorphosed the elements of a childhood pastime. The fragile shimmering globules become the shimmering but more enduring planets—a connotation of moon and tides.”</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1940
- Dimensions
- 34.3 × 48.3 × 7.6 cm (13 1/2 × 19 × 3 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Joseph Cornell
Artist
Printmaking
A leading 20th century American artist and a pioneer of assemblage art, Joseph Cornell has become most well known for his “shadow boxes,” a series of works made from found objects and raw materials that are constructed in such a way as to illustrate narrative surreal, even fantastical scenes. His many variable interests, which ranged from Surrealism to opera to Romantic literature, deeply influenced his work, leading to allegorical and personal memory themed objects. Surrealism specifically was significant to his artistic style, with the method of juxtaposing objects and subjects in surprising combinations featuring heavily across his oeuvre.
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More by Joseph Cornell
Untitled (How to Make a Rainbow) from Prints for Phoenix House
1972 · Screenprint with stencil and varnish additions from a portfolio of three lithographs, two photogravures, two screenprints with stencil and varnish additions, one aquatint, one etching and aquatint, and one screenprint
Untitled (Hotel du Nord) from Prints for Phoenix House
1972 · Screenprint with stencil and varnish additions from a portfolio of three lithographs, two photogravures, two screenprints with stencil and varnish additions, one aquatint, one etching and aquatint, and one screenprint
Untitled (Landscape with Figure) from Prints for Phoenix House
1972 · Photogravure from a portfolio of three lithographs, two photogravures, two screenprints with stencil and varnish additions, one aquatint, one etching and aquatint, and one screenprint
Untitled (Derby Hat) from Prints for Phoenix House
1972 · Photogravure from a portfolio of three lithographs, two photogravures, two screenprints with stencil and varnish additions, one aquatint, one etching and aquatint, and one screenprint
Untitled (Teapot/Grand Hotel Couronne & Poste)
1965 · Cut-and-pasted printed paper and gelatin silver print, pencil, gouache, crayon, and ink on printed paper on board, in artist's frame
Untitled (Home, Poor Heart)
1962 · Cut-and-pasted printed paper and crayon in wood frame with blue glass
Record
Verified by WattsOS- Artist
- Joseph Cornell
- Year
- 1940
- Dimensions
- 34.3 × 48.3 × 7.6 cm (13 1/2 × 19 × 3 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1940-013914
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified