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

Subseries consists of correspondence sent and received by Benton in the administration of Cornell's residual estate, as well as some printed material and photographs that were accumulated in the same files. Correspondents include: lawyers, collectors, dealers, galleries, museums, curators, scholars, writers, art critics, artists, admirers of Cornell, the executors of Cornell's estate, and charitable institutions, as well as some of Cornell's former "helpers," friends, and acquaintances.

Correspondence generally relates to the exhibition, loan, appraisal, auction, and sale of Cornell art work. It documents, in particular, Cornell exhibitions at the ACA Galleries, Art Institute of Chicago, Castelli Feigen Corcoran Gallery, Hopper House, Washburn Gallery, and Washington University in St. Louis; and the major Cornell retrospectives, "Joseph Cornell" at the Museum of Modern Art (November 1980-January 1981) and "Joseph Cornell: An Exploration of Sources" at the National Museum of American Art (November 19, 1982-February 27, 1983). Correspondence also relates to the disposition of Cornell material and art work, including donations of his papers, books, records, and/or source material to various cultural institutions (such as the Anthology Film Archives, Museum of Modern Art, Archives of American Art, and National Museum of American Art, among others), and gifts of art work to various museums and galleries (such as Meadow Brook Art Gallery at Oakland University, Mead Art Gallery at Amherst College, and Williams College Museum of Art, among others). Correspondence also concerns Benton's gifts of art work (particularly, collages and book objects), source material, memorabilia, and copies of some of Cornell's papers to various individuals.

Correspondence documents Benton's many efforts to continue Cornell's legacy and to preserve his memory, including her monetary donations to charitable institutions in memory of her brothers; her attempts to correct misinformation and misrepresentations of Cornell and his family published in various articles (as in a letter to New York Magazine correcting a mistake about the nature of Robert's handicap in an article written by Thomas Hess); and her concern to have the right person do a "Cornell book" (as reflected in correspondence with Wayne Andrews, Dore Ashton, Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, Diane Waldman, and Don Windham). Correspondence also documents her role in facilitating research on Cornell, including that of graduate students, such as Sherry Friend and Helen Haroutanian ( See also Series 9), and that of scholars such as David Porter; her work organizing and cataloging Cornell's papers and source material; and the various requests she fielded for information about or authentication of certain Cornell works.

Benton organized the correspondence into files according to correspondent, and the files in alphabetical order according to name of institution or surname of individual. Items in each file were typically accumulated in reverse chronological order. When only a few items were associated with a correspondent, Benton organized these into general alphabetical files. The existing organization has, for the most part, been maintained.