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Tamara Toumanova (Daguerreotype-Object)

Joseph Cornell American
 Person in photograph Tamara Toumanova French, born Russia

Not on view

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.

Tamara Toumanova (Daguerreotype-Object), Joseph Cornell (American, Nyack, New York 1903–1972 Flushing, New York), Construction with photomechanical reproduction, mirror, rhinestones or sequins, and tinted glass in artist’s frame

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