Isabelle (Dien Bien Phu)
- Date
- 1954
- made in
- New York, New York, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Collection
- Modern and Contemporary Art
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 18 x 11 7/8 x 5 3/4 in. (45.7 x 30.2 x 14.6 cm)
- Credit Line
- Funds given by the Shoenberg Foundation, Inc.
- Rights
- © The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation / Licensed by ARS, New York, NY
- Object Number
- 181:1986
NOTES
Joseph Cornell's sculptures are like 3-D collages: he affixed photographs, newspaper clippings, and other memorabilia onto and inside shallow boxes. This sculpture contains a cockatoo, a familiar character in Cornell's work, but here it is unusual for its violent imagery. The mounted cut-out of the bird rests on a perch behind a shattered pane of glass; blood-red pigment is spattered on the white wall behind it.
The box is meant to be viewed from both sides. Onto the back of the sculpture Cornell glued a map of the East Indies and an excerpt from an article about Dien Bein Phu, a decisive battle in the First Indochina War (1946 to 1954). Using a multilayered, poetic approach to the subject, Cornell created compelling associations about the violent repercussions of colonialism and its aftermath.
Provenance
by 1977 -
Private Collection, New York, NY [1]
by 1980 - 1986
Estate of Joseph Cornell [2]
1986/11/10 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased at auction, "Contemporary Art, Part I," Sotheby's, New York, November 10, 1986, lot no. 13 [3]
Notes:
[1] In the 1977 Waldman monograph, "Isabella (Dien Bien Phu)" is listed as being in a private collection in New York [Waldman, Diane. "Joseph Cornell." New York: George Brazziler, 1977, p. 119]. Also, Lynda Hartigan, former director of the Joseph Cornell Study Center at the National Museum of American Art, had photos of the work given to her by a former owner who is presumably the private collector listed in the Waldman monograph [letter from Anne-Louise Marquis of the National Museum of American Art to Maureen Merrigan, SLAM curatorial assistant, dated January 31, 1989, in SLAM document files].
[2] It is unclear how or why the piece went from the private collection to the artist's estate, also known as The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation. Cornell's estate sold several works through the ACA Galleries, New York, NY. According to a 1980 catalogue, the piece was lent to the Museum of Modern Art for an exhibition by the ACA Galleries [McShine, Kynaston, ed. "Joseph Cornell." New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1980, p. 290]. Helen Jagger Batcheller, Cornell's niece and a handler of his estate, consigned "Isabelle" to the ACA Galleries to sell [phone conversation between V. Hellstein and Jeffrey at ACA Galleries, New York, NY, January 20, 2004, notes in document file], and the provenance in the Sotheby's aution catalogue is listed as "ACA Galleries, New York (Estate of the artist)" ["Sotheby's Contemporary Art, Part I. New York (November 10, 1986), p. 12]. It does not seem that the gallery actually owned the piece, however.
[3] See Note [2]. Minutes of the Acquisitions and Loan Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, December 18, 1986.
Private Collection, New York, NY [1]
by 1980 - 1986
Estate of Joseph Cornell [2]
1986/11/10 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased at auction, "Contemporary Art, Part I," Sotheby's, New York, November 10, 1986, lot no. 13 [3]
Notes:
[1] In the 1977 Waldman monograph, "Isabella (Dien Bien Phu)" is listed as being in a private collection in New York [Waldman, Diane. "Joseph Cornell." New York: George Brazziler, 1977, p. 119]. Also, Lynda Hartigan, former director of the Joseph Cornell Study Center at the National Museum of American Art, had photos of the work given to her by a former owner who is presumably the private collector listed in the Waldman monograph [letter from Anne-Louise Marquis of the National Museum of American Art to Maureen Merrigan, SLAM curatorial assistant, dated January 31, 1989, in SLAM document files].
[2] It is unclear how or why the piece went from the private collection to the artist's estate, also known as The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation. Cornell's estate sold several works through the ACA Galleries, New York, NY. According to a 1980 catalogue, the piece was lent to the Museum of Modern Art for an exhibition by the ACA Galleries [McShine, Kynaston, ed. "Joseph Cornell." New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1980, p. 290]. Helen Jagger Batcheller, Cornell's niece and a handler of his estate, consigned "Isabelle" to the ACA Galleries to sell [phone conversation between V. Hellstein and Jeffrey at ACA Galleries, New York, NY, January 20, 2004, notes in document file], and the provenance in the Sotheby's aution catalogue is listed as "ACA Galleries, New York (Estate of the artist)" ["Sotheby's Contemporary Art, Part I. New York (November 10, 1986), p. 12]. It does not seem that the gallery actually owned the piece, however.
[3] See Note [2]. Minutes of the Acquisitions and Loan Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, December 18, 1986.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.