Joseph Cornell papers, 1804-1986, bulk 1939-1972

Subseries is comprised of Cornell's files ("dossiers") on people, including those in whom he had a particular interest and those with whom he identified or felt some sort of connection, whether real or imagined. People typically include historical and contemporary dancers (especially ballerinas), stage and film actresses, singers, artists, and writers. Dossiers are devoted to a particular individual and consist primarily of notes, writings, book and typed excerpts, prints, stats, clippings, correspondence, art work, and printed material.

Dossiers generally relate to Cornell's "explorations" in ballet, music, art, literature, film, and theater, and to his particular preoccupations with ballerinas and opera singers from the Romantic era (including Marie Taglioni and Maria Malibran, respectively), with contemporary ballerinas and singers (including Renee "Zizi" Jeanmarie and Anna Moffo, respectively), with stage and film actresses (including Claire Bloom, Patty Duke, Jeanne Eagels, and Jennifer Jones), and with the work of other artists (including Johannes Vermeer) and writers. Dossiers document the development of these and other preoccupations, which typically began with some sort of encounter (such as seeing Duke perform in the play, Isle of Children, reading about Taglioni's performance in the ballet, La Sylphide, or coming across a reproduction of a Vermeer painting in a book or on a postcard) and came to involve extensive contemplation and writing. Dossiers also relate to certain art works and other creative projects arising from these particular "explorations" and preoccupations, including the various boxes and collages he made in tribute to Duke, Jeanmarie, Tilly Losch, and others, his self-publications ( Maria and Bel Canto Pet) dedicated to the opera singers, Malibran and Grisi, and the planned brochure ( La Retour de la Sylphide) dedicated to the ballerina, Taglioni.

Dossiers document his personal contact with certain individuals with whom he was preoccupied (such as meeting Jeanmarie in her dressing room after a show and getting her autograph), and his imaginary involvement with others (such as the connection he felt with Bloom after discovering that, as a young girl, she had lived with her family in Forest Hills, New York during the same time period that he was working nearby). Dossiers also concern his relationships with other artists, including Lee Bontecou, Dorothy Coulter, Piero Dorazio, Yayoi Kusama, Tilly Losch (who was primarily known as a dancer and actress), and Robert Motherwell, as well as his relationship with the actor, Tony Curtis and his wife, Christine Kaufman. Many of these relationships are also documented in Cornell's correspondence.

Files are arranged alphabetically according to the individual's surname.

Subseries is comprised of portfolios devoted to two of Cornell's on-going "explorations," "Ondine (Cerrito)" and "Romantic Ballet." Portfolios consist of oversized and document-sized material, including notes, book and typed excerpts, stats, clippings, lithograph portraits, prints, sheet music, writings, and other printed material. Portfolio titles are drawn from the inscriptions on the outside of each portfolio case. Cornell more than likely compiled this material in much the same way as that in his other files, though he ended up storing and maintaining it separately due perhaps to the size of certain items.

The "Ondine (Cerrito)" Portfolio represents some of the material that Cornell created and accumulated in the course of working on Portrait of Ondine, his "exploration" (or "unauthorized biography") of Fanny Cerrito and her famous role in the ballet, Ondine. Portfolio includes material, such as exhibition text and notes, relating to the exhibitions of versions of Portrait of Ondine at the Museum of Modern Art in 1946 and at the Wittenborn Bookstore in 1956 ( See also Subseries 4.3); and notes indicating Cornell's desire and/or intention to present this "exploration" in another format. Portfolio also includes material on Marie Taglioni, and other material (such as a typed manuscript of Cornell's essay on Hedy Lamarr for View) that may or may not correspond to the same "exploration."

The "Romantic Ballet" Portfolio consists of material on ballet dancers, Marie Taglioni and Tamara Toumanova, and opera singers, Maria Malibran, Pauline Viardot-Garcia, and Giuditta Pasta. It is unclear whether all the material relates directly to the Romantic Ballet "exploration," but it seems possible that Cornell was able to find linkages between Romantic and contemporary ballerinas, as well as between ballerinas and opera singers. The name of 'Gautier' inscribed on the portfolio suggests that the figure of Theophile Gautier may have been a thread linking this broad exploration. Portfolio includes material relating to a proposed "Taglioni-Poe project," which Cornell at one point intended to publish in the avant-garde periodical, Possibilities ( See also the Motherwell dossier for correspondence mentioning the project); a version of his Toumanova Ballet Scrapbook and swan prints that seem to relate to the Swan Lake shadow boxes he made in tribute to her; and writings on Viardot-Garcia that trace a "Turgenev-St. Saens thread" and establish a connection between the opera singer and his box, Parrot for Juan Gris.

Dossiers and Subject Source Files include files relating to some of the same people and topics, as well as to some of the same, or similar, projects.

Subseries is comprised of Cornell's files on various subjects, including topics of interest to him, themes, "explorations," art and publishing projects, and exhibitions. Some files are organized according to format, such as clippings, notes and writings, and stamps. Files typically consist of material that Cornell used in creating particular boxes, collages, and other works (design layouts and exhibition announcements, among others), and from which he drew ideas and inspiration for projects. Material typically includes magazine and newspaper clippings, cutouts, notes, writings, book and typed excerpts, stats, prints, postcards, art reproductions, and other printed material.

Subject source files range from slender files containing only clippings and cutouts of a particular subject (such as Butterflies, Food, and Statues) to files of assorted printed material seemingly related to some sort of titled, but not easily identifiable, project (such as "Animals in the News," "Earth Before the Flood" Box, and "La Malaga") to voluminous files relating to a particular topic, which Cornell explored in depth, or to an on-going project, which may or may not have resulted in a finished product (such as "Celestial Theater" and "GC 44"). Some files are more comprehensive than others; some files relate directly, and others only indirectly, to particular projects; and some files are so general and/or incomplete that it is not entirely clear how they relate to Cornell's projects or interests.

Certain subject source files relate to Cornell's "explorations" on such diverse topics as astronomy, ballet, literature, and music. Ones on astronomy include "Cassiopeia" (sparked by his musings on the constellation and his preoccupation with a young waitress) and "Celestial Theater" (an unfinished project on sky-gazing). Ones on ballet and literature include "Portrait of Ondine (Cerrito)" and the Bibliomania projects, respectively. And ones on music include "The Caliph of Bagdad" (sparked by hearing the opera by Francois-Andrien Boieldieu and leading to the creation of one or more Cockatoo boxes), "Famagouste" (inspired by the opera, "La Pisanella" by Ildebrando Pizzetti), and "Rossiniana" (involving a proposed "feuilleton-project" on the composer, Rossini).

Other subject source files relate to particular "explorations" based on Cornell's personal experiences. Most notable among these is "GC 44," which stemmed from events during the period when he worked at the Garden Centre nursery in Flushing. The extensive "GC 44" files document the core experiences of this "exploration," which included visits to "The Old Farm" (Lawrence Homestead), a dream of "the little dancer," many trips to the "house on the hill" (where Cornell gathered dried grasses which were used in his Habitat boxes), and a particular sighting of a delivery truck "with its enseigne of the fish and smoking meats" which inspired "The Floral Still-Life" musings. Also documented are Cornell's overriding concerns to recapture and recreate what was for him "one of the high tides of inspiration" and to share the experience with others. Though he exchanged ideas and shared some of this material with others ( See letter from Donald Windham to Betty Cornell Benton in Series 10), the project, as he imagined it, was never completed.

Some subject source files relate to particular art projects and stem from Cornell's work researching, planning, and/or creating certain box constructions, box series, and collages. While by no means comprehensive or complete, files on art projects variously document the origin of certain box series (such as the Aviary and Juan Gris series) and/or stages in the development of particular boxes and collages (such as the "Nostalgia of the Sea" box, and the Rabbit and "Tina" collages). Files on art projects also suggest the way in which Cornell's preoccupations influenced his art work, as in the box, "The Bird with the Shoe-Button Eyes," which stemmed from his preoccupations with literature in general and with the French author, Gerard de Nerval, in particular and which he seems to have conceived as a means to bring the rather obscure author to the attention of a wider audience.

Certain subject source files relate to particular publishing projects and stem from Cornell's work designing covers and illustrations, writing articles, and planning entire issues for various commercial and avant-garde periodicals ( See Subseries 4.1 for his work on self-publications). Notable publishing projects documented, in part, here include "The Crystal Cage [portrait of Berenice]," and various pieces for Dance Index, including ones on "blackface ballerinas," children and ballet, and dancing animals, as well as the thematic issue, "Clowns, Elephants, and Ballerinas" (1946).

Subject source files on exhibitions stem primarily from Cornell's work on catalogues for the "Objects by Joseph Cornell" exhibition at the Copley Gallery (September 1948), the "Night Voyage" exhibition at the Egan Gallery (February 10-March 28, 1953), and the "Romantic Museum at the Hugo Gallery: Portraits of Women" exhibition (December 1946), and they document, to a certain extent, his involvement in the presentation, exhibition, and sale of his art work.

It is unlikely that Cornell maintained these files in alphabetical order. Betty Cornell Benton's correspondence indicates that she organized some of his papers ( See Series 10), so it seems likely that this order was imposed by her. At this point, it is difficult to surmise what, if any, Cornell's original organization may have been. Therefore, files have been left in alphabetical order.