Joseph Cornell

Jack Tarpey, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above

New York, ACA Galleries, Joseph Cornell, May 1975, cat. no. 25, p. 30, illustrated
New York, ACA Galleries, Joseph Cornell: Boxes and Collages, October - November 1977, cat. no. 7, n.p., illustrated
New Canaan, Silvermine Arts Center, Art in the Box: Homage to Joseph Cornell, October 1986
Andover, Phillips Academy, Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover Alumni Collectors, April - July 1995
New York, Allan Stone Gallery, Joseph Cornell, October - December 2002, cat. no. 29, n.p., illustrated in color 
New York, Katonah Museum of Art, Andromeda Hotel: The Art of Joseph Cornell, June - September 2006, pp. 8 & 10, illustrated in color
New York, Allan Stone Gallery, World in a Box, March - May 2012, cat. no. 29, n.p., illustrated

This work is in very good condition overall. All elements are intact and the glass face is slightly loose in its setting. There is evidence of light wear and very faint surface scratches throughout due to the artist's choice of medium. There is faint cracking in the interior wood and pale time staining to the printed paper elements.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Allan Stone's collection is a celebration of over 50 years of art collecting and an insight into the sophisticated eye of this renowned New York dealer. His profound love for art inspired him to open his legendary gallery on December 7, 1960, a day he often referred to as his "real" birthday, as the gallery provided the ideal outlet for his own passion for art and his obsession to acquire objects that appealed to his expansive range of interests. A consummate dealer who reveled in his many friendships with the artists he represented and collected, Stone joined the ranks of pre-eminent New York dealers, like Leo Castelli and Sidney Janis, who also focused on the New York School of Abstract Expressionism at that time. 

As Stone once said, "I first encountered Abstract Expressionism in a touring A.F.A. (American Federation of Arts) exhibit at the Addison Gallery in Andover, Massachusetts in 1948. I was a young painting student who became totally captivated by de Kooning, Gorky, Kline and to a lesser degree, Pollock. Experiencing their work was probably the closest thing to a religious experience I ever had!"

With his first acquisition of a drawing by Willem de Kooning in 1954, Stone's life-long appetite for collecting art began. As the decades progressed, it was clear how instrumental Allan Stone was, as both a dealer and a connoisseur, in the continuing predominance of masters of 20th Century art such as de Kooning, Franz Kline, Arshile Gorky, John Chamberlain, Joseph Cornell and Wayne Thiebaud. The works Stone sought out and collected by these artists are a tribute to a rare appetite for life and art, and Sotheby's is honored to be presenting a selection of works from Allan Stone's collection, illustrated in the following pages.