The Father of Us All

Tilly Losch

Joseph Cornell - the master of assemblage. What can one say? When his exhibition was featured at the San Francisco MOMA in late 2007 I spent hours filling my eyes with his collages, his assemblages and all his collections.

It was fascinating to see all the intricate pieces, as in the drawers above; tiny wrapped bundles of paper. The hardware cloth along the edge was a favorite material of Cornell's, and he often used the cutout bird shapes.

Medici Slot Machine(left) and Medici Boy(right) are interesting studies of Renaissance paintings surrounded by small copies of the central figure. Game pieces, maps and line diagrams fill the boxes as well. Cornell did several pieces in this series.

My daughter gave me the exhibition book for Christmas and I love leafing through it and soaking up inspiration. My own small tribute to this man who gave us so much is called A Cornell Retrospective and includes many of the signature elements he used: a clay pipe, a liqueur glass, a Renaissance painting, a star chart and hardware cloth. It was, I thought, a fitting way for an artist to pay homage to the father of us all, Joseph Cornell.

A Cornell Retrospective