Gallery, Museum, and University Correspondence

Object Details

See more items in: Joseph Cornell Study Center Collection; Joseph Cornell Study Center Collection / Series 2: Correspondence

Sponsor: Funding for the processing of this collection was generously provided by the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation.

Archival Repository: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Research and Scholars Center

Collection Citation: Joseph Cornell Study Center, Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Arrangement: Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by gallery, museum, or university, and chronologically thereafter.

Collection Rights: Unpublished materials are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.

Scope and Contents: Galleries, museums, and universities often discuss Cornell's artworks and wishes to exhibit, purchase, sell, or collect works. Scattered throughout correspondence files are photographs of artwork and installations, loan forms, inventories, shipping manifests and receipts, sales notices, exhibition catalogs and announcements, and Cornell's diary notes. Towards the end of the 1960s, Cornell's notes and draft letters often appear to attempt to take stock of work out on loan, who owns his works, and how many of his pieces one individual may own.

Collection Restrictions: Access to the collection requires an advanced appointment. Contact collection staff at least two weeks prior to preferred date, at AmericanArtCornellStudy@si.edu. Series 9: Artifacts and Ephemera, Series 13: Personal Library and Book Collection, and Series 14: Record Album Collection, are still undergoing processing and preservation and may not be available for research use. Record albums are unavailable for playback. Contact collection staff for full lists of publications and record albums.