The Fourth Dimension
Patrick J. Sullivan
American, 1894–1967
1938
An oil painting that stages a dreamlike, symbolic encounter between earthly figures and a glittering cosmos to suggest a 'fourth dimension' beyond familiar reality.
A deep cobalt sky crowded with luminous, globe-like planets and a comet hovers over a flattened golden plain where a solitary man, a veiled specter and a chained, fallen figure gather around a strange star-tipped instrument, producing an uncanny, contemplative stillness.
Sullivan's 1938 work blends surreal and metaphysical currents in American modernism, visualizing scientific fascination with higher dimensions and prewar spiritual anxieties as a symbolic, visionary tableau.
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
24 1/4 x 30 1/4" (61.5 x 76.6 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
The Sidney and Harriet Janis Collection
Accession
656.1967
Palette
Exhibitions
