Observatory American Gothic

Gallery 269, Modern and Contemporary Art, second floor

Main Building

Observatory American Gothic

c. 1954

Joseph Cornell (American, 1903–1972)

Birds and their environments make frequent appearances in Cornell’s assemblages, often in the form of naturalist illustrations or in the shallow, gridded dovecotes of some of his boxes. These structures can suggest cages for domesticated pets or dioramas that, in the tradition of natural history museums, represent the habitat of a certain species through staged, artificial means. In December 1949–January 1950, the Egan Gallery in New York City presented an exhibition called Aviary by Joseph Cornell, for which the artist created a wall-mounted lattice of supports to present his bird-related objects. His short film Aviary, about a young woman watching pigeons in New York, followed in 1954.

Gallery 269, Modern and Contemporary Art, second floor

Object Details

Title:

Observatory American Gothic

Date:

c. 1954

Artist:

Joseph Cornell (American, 1903–1972)

Medium:

Box construction

Dimensions:

17 9/16 x 11 5/16 x 2 11/16 inches (44.6 x 28.7 x 6.8 cm)

Classification:

Sculpture

Credit Line:

125th Anniversary Acquisition. Partial gift of Mrs. Edwin A. Bergman, and purchased with the gift (by exchange) of Anna Warren Ingersoll, 2000

Accession Number:

2000-5-1

Geography:

Made in United States, North and Central America

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Gallery 269, Modern and Contemporary Art, second floor

Main Building

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