Soap Bubble Set-Lunar

Joseph Cornell, although often associated with Surrealism, consistently refrained from categorizing himself within a particular movement and, in fact, disavowed the Surrealist's subconscious and dream theories. Cornell's work instead followed the example of Marcel Duchamp, and the profound influence that the invention of the "readymade" had on modern sculpture. Cornell created three-dimensional assemblages, that expressed an intensely personal fantasy life and which offered the found objects new associative meanings. Within Cornell's box constructions, according to Edward Lucie-Smith, "found objects were assembled magpie-like as a way of celebrating ideas, creating visual poems, and paying tribute to people whom the artist admired" (E. Lucie-Smith, Sculpture Since 1945, New York, 1987, p. 43). Soap Bubble Set-Lunar is a strong example of this series of works that the artist developed from 1936 onward. The soap bubbles of the work's title exist only by implication -through the round shape of the cork ball, the ring and the moon in the background.