Joseph Cornell: Navigating the Imagination

Globe pick:

Inside the box

More than 180 magical boxes, collages, and films by the great American surrealist Joseph Cornell are gathered into a beguilingly beautiful exhibition at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem. "Joseph Cornell: Navigating the Imagination" remains on view through Aug. 19.

--- Ken Johnson, Globe staff

More information:

Joseph Cornell is one of America’s most innovative modern artists, known for his distinctive box sculptures, collages and experimental films that continue to influence many artists, writers, poets, filmmakers and designers. Co-organized by PEM and The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) and curated by PEM chief curator, Lynda Hartigan, the exhibition represents the first major retrospective of this American master in 26 years. It features 180 of Cornell’s artworks—making PEM the largest venue for this touring exhibition, including 30 pieces on public view for the first time. Works in Navigating the Imagination were borrowed from an international array of public and private collections. The exhibition travels to San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.