Joseph Cornell was an American artist born in 1903 in Nyack, New York. He was a pioneer of assemblage art, making boxed assemblages from found objects that were often interactive. Cornell was self-taught and influenced by surrealists, transcendentalists, Hollywood starlets, and French symbolists in his experimental films and assemblage works featuring cutouts from magazines.

1. Joseph Cornell
Joseph Cornell was born in Nyack, New York December 24th 1903. He was an American artist
and sculptor and also one of the pioneers of assemblage. He was
also an avant-garde experimental film maker, influenced by the
surrealists. Cornell’s most characteristic art works were boxed
assemblages created from found objects. Many of his boxes such
as Medici slot machine boxes are interactive and are meant to be
handled. He had no formal training in art, although he was
extremely well-read and was conversant with the New York art
scene from the 1940s through to the 1960s.
Cornell was heavily influenced by
the American transcendentalists,
Hollywood starlets ( to whom he
sent boxes he had dedicated to
them), the French symbolists such
as Stéphane Mallarmé and Gérard
de Nerval, and the great dancers of
the 19th century ballet such as
Marie Taglioni and Fanny Cerrito.