Edgar Allen Beem, Maine Times,
November 3, 1989

…Cornell’s version of the Maine eco-aesthetic is stylistically unique. Where the majority of artists in Maine respond to the power of this place with realistic representations, romantic impressions, and lyrical abstractions of land and sea, Cornell addresses the Maine experience in an antique, even archly didactic manner. His purely perceptual paintings are more easily approachable than those generated by dogma, but his application of classical figuration to contemporary convictions is ultimately very convincing.