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Soap Bubble Set

A work made of wood, glass, paper, metal, and shell.
© The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at ARS, New York

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  • A work made of wood, glass, paper, metal, and shell.

Date:

1940 (reworked 1953)

Artist:

Joseph Cornell
American, 1903–1972

About this artwork

Joseph Cornell’s box constructions present highly personal reflections on art, nature, history, and memory through the unexpected juxtaposition of found objects and printed material. Here he included glasses, pipes, and round disks to recollect the youthful activity of blowing soap bubbles. Their placement in front of a diagram of the Copernican planetary system, however, suggests a more universal significance. Cornell produced other Soap Bubble Set boxes, and he later recalled about them that “Shadow boxes become poetic theatres or settings wherein are metamorphosed the elements of a childhood pastime. The fragile shimmering globules become the shimmering but more enduring planets—a connotation of moon and tides.”

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of the Americas

Artist

Joseph Cornell

Title

Soap Bubble Set

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Original 1940

Medium

Wood, glass, paper, metal, and shell

Inscriptions

Label on verso, upper left: "SOAP BUBBLE SET"/Joseph Cornell./Joseph Cornell/Remodeled from original/version of 1940 in 1953.

Dimensions

34.3 × 48.3 × 7.6 cm (13 1/2 × 19 × 3 in.)

Credit Line

Simeon B. Williams Fund

Reference Number

1953.199

Copyright

© The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at ARS, New York

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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