Untitled (Pharmacy)

Joseph Cornell

1952–53 · Box construction: wood, glass, mirror, shells, sand, printed paper, coral, cork, feather, metal, and liquid · Modern and Contemporary Art

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.

Artist

Joseph Cornell

Date

1952–53

Medium

Box construction: wood, glass, mirror, shells, sand, printed paper, coral, cork, feather, metal, and liquid

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection, Gift of Muriel Kallis Newman, 2006