They Say the Owl is a Baker’s Daughter” Ophelia

Joseph Cornell, "They Say the Owl is a Baker's Daughter" Ophelia, 1971, collage with ink and pencil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, 1991.155.335
Joseph Cornell, "They Say the Owl is a Baker's Daughter" Ophelia, 1971, collage with ink and pencil on paperboard, 12 in. x 9 18 in. (30.623.2 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, 1991.155.335

Artwork Details

Title
They Say the Owl is a Baker’s Daughter” Ophelia
Date
1971
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
12 in. x 9 18 in. (30.623.2 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation
Mediums
Mediums Description
collage with ink and pencil on paperboard
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract
Object Number
1991.155.335

Artwork Description

Toward the end of his life, Joseph Cornell created deeply personal and enigmatic drawings reminiscent of Rorschach ink blots, which became very popular in the 1960s as psychological tests. Beginning with a suggestive drawing in ink on paper, the artist folded the paper so that the wet image transferred to the opposite half of the paper, forming a symmetrical image. He then embellished the drawing with lines or collage elements to create composition, suggested to him by the resulting forms.
Sometimes the image suggested an association from which Cornell derived a title for the work and sometimes he appears to have had a subject in mind before making the image. “They say the owl is a baker’s daughter” is one of Ophelia’s lines in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It refers to a popular legend in which Christ transforms a baker’s daughter into an owl after she has denied him a piece of bread. The owl, also a symbol of night, death, and virginity, often appears in Cornell’s work.

Abstract Drawings, 2012

Works by this artist (16 items)

Charles Seliger, Awakening, 1988, etching on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. George M. Jaffin, 1994.50, © 1988, Charles Seliger
Awakening
Date1988
etching on paper
Not on view
Charles Seliger, Suction, the Epicurean, from Illustrations to the songs of William Blake's "Island in the Moon", 1945, white ink on black ink on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Michael Rosenfeld, 1992.53.13
Suction, the Epicurean, from Illustrations to the songs of…
Date1945
white ink on black ink on paper
Not on view
Charles Seliger, Title page, Illustrations to the songs from William Blake's "Island in the Moon", 1945, white ink on black ink on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Michael Rosenfeld, 1992.53.1
Title page, Illustrations to the songs from William Blake’s…
Date1945
white ink on black ink on paper
Not on view
Charles Seliger, Celestial, 1956, mixed media: pencil, tempera, oil and wax on illustration board, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Hy Klebanow, 1992.58
Celestial
Date1956
mixed media: pencil, tempera, oil and wax on illustration board
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

Welmon Sharlhorne, Untitled (Building with Recessed Entrance and Black Foreground), ca. 1992, ink on manila envelope, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1997.124.135
Untitled (Building with Recessed Entrance and Black…
Dateca. 1992
ink on manila envelope
Not on view
Andrea Way, Bones, 1987, ink on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Tom and Judy Brody, 2009.38.3, © 1987, Andrea Way
Bones
Date1987
ink on paper
Not on view
William H. Johnson, Bearded Man, ca. 1935, pen and ink on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.378
Bearded Man
Dateca. 1935
pen and ink on paper
Not on view
Welmon Sharlhorne, Bus, ca. 1992, ink on manila envelope, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1997.124.134
Bus
Dateca. 1992
ink on manila envelope
Not on view