October 21, 2003

The Guggenheim Then


Space Object Box: “Little Bear, etc.” motif, mid-1950s–early 1960s. Box construction and collage, 11 x 17 1/2 x 5 1/4 inches.

Joseph Cornell was born December 24, 1903, in Nyack, New York. From 1917 to 1921, he attended Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts. He was an avid collector of memorabilia and, while working as a woolen-goods salesman in New York until 1931, developed his interests in ballet, literature, and opera. He lived with his mother and brother, Robert, at their home in the Flushing section of Queens.

Posted by Vanderleun at October 21, 2003 9:43 PM
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"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.

This is from a draft I'm working on:

We paused in front of a glass-covered shadowbox with feathers, beads, bones and shells. I commented on the artist’s obvious influence by Joseph Cornell.

Adrian squinted as he looked at me and said, “A woman who knows Joseph Cornell’s work. That’s a first for me. I’m impressed.”

"You shouldn't be. I was an art major, so I better have picked up something here and there.”

We walked into the next studio.

“And," I continued, "not too many people recognize Richard Brautigan's name either, but you did."

“Yes, mon chou, but I was living in Berkeley in the ‘60s, so how could I not know Richard Brautigan? Besides, everyone’s heard of Trout Fishing in America.”

"No, not everyone. Certainly not the guys I’ve been going out with lately. Let’s look at one more studio before we get coffee, OK? Wow. Check out those paintings.”

The sign outside the open doorway, painted in bold brushstrokes, read Erve (with an accent on the final ‘e’).

“How to you pronounce that? Irv?"

“Air-vay,” Adrian corrected.


(The Joseph Cornell thing; just a coincidence, no doubt.)

Posted by: akaMonique at October 22, 2003 10:41 AM

What can I say. I am consistently amazed by the synchronicity of it all.

Posted by: Van der Leun at October 22, 2003 11:46 AM

You'd be terrified of mine, very similar notion but uses credit cards (mag-stripe, not chip) as a substitute.

Posted by: Chung Hendriks at November 7, 2012 2:46 PM