Untitled (Penny Arcade Portrait of Lauren Bacall) 1946

Editor: This mixed-media assemblage, "Untitled (Penny Arcade Portrait of Lauren Bacall)," was created by Joseph Cornell in 1946. It feels very dreamlike, almost like a memory box. How do you interpret this work, especially given the subject's fame? Curator: Well, it's impossible to separate this work from the context of 1940s Hollywood and the construction of female identity within that system. Bacall, as a figure, was heavily manufactured, her image a product of studio executives and public relations. Cornell’s box, in its fragmented and contained nature, becomes a powerful commentary on that process. The box isolates and elevates Bacall but also traps her within this rigid structure, doesn't it? What do you make of the grid over her face? Editor: I hadn't thought about the idea of being trapped... The grid almost makes her feel like a specimen. Curator: Exactly. Think of the Surrealist movement’s fascination with the female form and how it often oscillated between adoration and objectification. Cornell, while considered adjacent to Surrealism, adds a layer of critique. He uses the form of the "penny arcade" – a source of cheap thrills and fleeting encounters – to comment on how female beauty is commodified and consumed. Consider too the implications of 'Untitled'. Editor: So it is both celebrating and critiquing the image of Lauren Bacall? Curator: Precisely. It acknowledges the allure while simultaneously exposing the mechanics of its construction and the potential for exploitation inherent in that process. We can even extend it to reflect broader power dynamics within society itself. What I learned today is the layers contained in Cornell’s works! Editor: Absolutely. It's definitely given me a lot to consider regarding fame and how women are represented in art.