Untitled (Hotel de la Clef D'Or)
Joseph Cornell, Untitled (Hotel de la Clef D'Or), ca. 1959, wood, metal, collage, paint, and glass, The Evan H. Roberts Memorial Sculpture Collection, © artist or other rights holder, 81.99
This work is not currently on view.
- Title
Untitled (Hotel de la Clef D'Or)
- Artist
- Date
ca. 1959
- Medium
wood, metal, collage, paint, and glass
- Dimensions (H x W x D)
15 1/2 in x 9 5/8 in x 4 1/8 in
- Inscriptions & Markings
signature: signature in reverse, ink, verso; lower right
- Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary Art
- Category
Sculpture
- Object Type
sculpture
- Culture
American
- Credit Line
The Evan H. Roberts Memorial Sculpture Collection
- Accession Number
81.99
- Copyright
© artist or other rights holder
- Terms
Cornell juxtaposed seemingly disparate images to create a poetic whole. Influenced by the Victorian shadow boxes that he knew as a child, Cornell's boxes were to him "poetic theaters." Elements from theater, opera, and ballet are common in his work, along with references to natural history and astronomy. He described his works as "impressions intriguingly diverse…that, in order to hold fast, one might assemble, assort, and arrange into a cabinet …"
Untitled (Hotel de la Clef d’Or) is one of several works that make reference to hotel names. European travel, a clock, and the implication of a once-present bird speak perhaps to the artist's romance with European culture, although he never traveled abroad.
