Untitled (Compartmented Box)

by Joseph Cornell

Artist Joseph Cornell (USA, 1903 - 1972)

Alternate Title

Utan titel (låda med fack)

Date1954-1956

MediumBox construction

Dimensions38,7 x 26 x 6,2 cm

ClassificationSculptures

Credit LinePurchase 1980 funded by The Lovén Foundation, The Ettler Foundation, The Personne Foundation and with contribution from Gustaf Douglas

Countries

United States

On view

Stockholm

RoomGallery 01:4

Object NumberMOMSK 58

About the artworkA box with twenty-five small compartments under a glass top: a small display case to hang on the wall. In each compartment is a ball and an obscure portrait of a beautiful Renaissance youth. The box is the secret, a capsule, a memory. A tradition that can be traced from the laterna magica, jewellery boxes, miniature portraits; from panopticons, peep shows, puppet theatre and early photography – to the cinema, advertising light boxes and why not televisions and computers. The technology is all about containment – and presentation. Inside the box, we find a universe in miniature. An enchanted world where Joseph Cornell’s magic is white. Cornell worked with Surrealist-inspired collages from the early 1930s, but he lacked the Surrealists’ interest in psychology and repressed sexuality. His world is spiritual – like a fairy tale of the gods.
Signatures, inscriptions and marks Påskrift på den övre listens insida: "1/2 = ball in each compartment" och "1/2 = ball each (wooden) compartment" Selected exhibition history Den underjordiska himlen. Surrealism i Moderna Museets samling Moderna Museet, Stockholm Internationell Surrealism (1998) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Moderna Museet c/o Bildmuseet - Dada och surrealism (2003) Bildmuseet, Umeå Surrealism, samlingen (den 19 oktober 2024 - den 18 januari 2026) Moderna Museet, Stockholm Moderna Museets samling i ny presentation (1998-2000) Moderna Museet, Stockholm

Works by the artist