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.

Joseph Cornell: Navigating the Imagination is co-organized by the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass., and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C., with support from the Henry Luce Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, as part of "American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius," The Mnuchin Foundation, the Ridgestone Foundation and James Corcoran, Los Angeles, and with the cooperation of The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation.

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