Joseph Cornell Known as the reclusive surrealist of Utopia Parkway, Queens, he did collages and box constructions in which images and objects convey an aura of mysterious innocence. In his will, he left a foundation for making charitable grants from the sales of his art and returns on investments. A close collaborator and major influence early in his career was Marcel Duchamp whom he met in 1933 at an exhibition, organized by Duchamp, of sculpture by Constantin Brancusi at Brummer gallery in New York. Their acquaintance was renewed when Duchamp moved to New York in 1942, and Duchamp hired Cornell to assist him in making editions of his "portable museums," or boxes in a valise. Later Cornell did a number of assemblages in homage to his friend, and they were discovered after Cornell's death in 1972

Biography with permission from AskArt.com

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