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Joseph Cornell
Untitled (Blue Owl Box), ca. 1950

Using bric-a-brac, memorabilia, and ordinary construction materials, Cornell assembled highly evocative, self-contained fantasy worlds inside wooden boxes. Birds were a common theme in his imaginative and deeply personal assemblages, since they could take on a range of symbolic meanings, from the idea of song to the experience of being caged.

From the early 1940s through the mid-1950s Cornell made a series of boxes containing owls. Unlike his other birds, which frequently appear in shooting galleries or compartmentalized in dovecotes, the owls inhabit woodland scenes. Here a paper cutout of an owl is surrounded by tree bark. The box is glazed with rippled blue glass and illuminated by a hidden electric light, which creates the effect of a moonlit night. The nocturnal owl likely held special significance for Cornell, who worked in solitude in his basement workshop.

Artwork Info

Artwork title
Untitled (Blue Owl Box)
Artist name
Joseph Cornell
Date created
ca. 1950
Classification
sculpture
Medium
wooden box with glass containing tree bark, reproduction on paper, sawdust, lightbulb, and electrical apparatus
Dimensions
14 1/2 in. × 10 7/8 in. × 4 in. (36.83 cm × 27.62 cm × 10.16 cm)
Date acquired
1985
Credit
Collection SFMOMA
Anonymous gift
Copyright
© The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at ARS, New York
Permanent URL
https://www.sfmoma.org/artwork/85.390
Artwork status
Not on view at this time.

Other Works by Joseph Cornell

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