This work is one of six pharmacies made by Cornell over a decade; it is one of the last he made. The subject is not coincidental; as a practicing Christian Scientist, the artist was forbidden to take medicine. Instead, in his miniature apothecary Cornell placed medicine for the soul and imagination: colored sand, a speckled shell, maps, newspaper clippings, and a cork.
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Dimensions:14 3/8 × 13 1/4 × 5 1/2 in. (36.5 × 33.7 × 14 cm) Weight: 14.9 lb. (6.8 kg)
Classification:Sculpture
Credit Line:The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection, Gift of Muriel Kallis Newman, 2006
Accession Number:2006.32.12
[Allan Frumkin Gallery, Chicago, until 1954; sold on April 14, 1954 to Steinberg]; Muriel Kallis Steinberg, Chicago (1954–2006; her gift to MMA)
Art Institute of Chicago. "61st American Exhibition: Paintings and Sculpture," October 21–December 5, 1954, no. 30.
Chicago. Allan Frumkin Gallery. "Fifth Anniversary Exhibition," November 1957, no catalogue.
Chicago. Museum of Contemporary Art. "Modern Masters from Chicago Collections," September 8–October 22, 1972, unnumbered cat.
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. "Cornell in Chicago," November 19, 1973–January 6, 1974, unnumbered cat.
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Joseph Cornell," November 17, 1980–January 20, 1981, no. 78.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "An American Choice: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection," May 21–September 27, 1981, unnumbered cat. (p. 47).
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "High and Low: Modern Art, Popular Culture," October 7, 1990–January 15, 1991, unnumbered cat. (fig. 138).
Art Institute of Chicago. "High and Low: Modern Art, Popular Culture," February 20–May 12, 1991, unnumbered cat.
Los Angeles. Museum of Contemporary Art. "High and Low: Modern Art, Popular Culture," June 21–September 15, 1991, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Abstract Expressionism and Other Modern Works: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 17, 2007–February 3, 2008, extended to March 2, 2008, no. 41.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Surrealism Beyond Borders," October 11, 2021–January 30, 2022, unnumbered cat. (fig. 269).
Monica Meenan. "The Vigorous Collectors." Town and Country 132 (September 1978), ill. p. 148.
Alice Hess. "Great Private Collections: A Chicago Visionary." Saturday Review 7 (October 1980), p. 74.
Hilton Kramer. "Modernist Show Moves Met Firmly into Art of 20th Century." New York Times (May 22, 1981), p. C1.
M. W. Newman. "Chicago." Franklin Mint Almanac 12 (July–August 1981), ill. p. 20 (color, installation photo).
Deborah Solomon inAbstract Expressionism and Other Modern Works: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Gary Tinterow, Lisa Mintz Messinger, and Nan Rosenthal. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, pp. 128–30, no. 41, ill. (color, overall and detail).
Max Hollein. Modern and Contemporary Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2019, ill. p. 67 (color).
Stephanie D'Alessandro and Matthew Gale in Stephanie D'Alessandro and Matthew Gale. Surrealism Beyond Borders. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2021, pp. 31, 332, fig. 269 (color).
Dawn Ades in Stephanie D'Alessandro and Matthew Gale. Surrealism Beyond Borders. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2021, p. 273.
Joseph Cornell (American, Nyack, New York 1903–1972 Flushing, New York)
ca. 1953
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