Tamara Toumanova (Daguerreotype-Object)

Person in Photograph Person in photograph Tamara Toumanova French, born Russia

October 1941

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

Joseph Cornell is celebrated for his meticulously constructed, magical shadow boxes that teem with celestial charts, ballet stars, parrots, mirrors, and marbles. Into these tiny theaters he decanted his dreams, obsessions, and unfulfilled desires. Here, his subject is the Russian prima ballerina Tamara Toumanova. Known for her virtuosity and beauty, the dancer captivated Cornell, who met her backstage at the Metropolitan Opera and thereafter saw her as his personal Snow Queen and muse.

Artwork Details

Overview

Exhibition History

Title: Tamara Toumanova (Daguerreotype-Object)
Artist: Joseph Cornell (American, Nyack, New York 1903–1972 Flushing, New York)
Person in Photograph: Person in photograph Tamara Toumanova (Russian, 1919–1996)
Date: October 1941
Medium: Construction with photomechanical reproduction, mirror, rhinestones or sequins, and tinted glass in artist’s frame
Dimensions: 5 1/8 × 4 3/16 in. (13 × 10.6 cm)
Frame: 9 3/4 × 8 3/4 × 1 7/8 in. (24.8 × 22.2 × 4.8 cm)
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Promised Gift of Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee, in celebration of the Museum’s 150th Anniversary
Curatorial Department: Photographs