Jim Sullivan
American, born 1939Assumption, 1981
Not on view
Oil over acrylic on canvas
Dimensions60 1/4 × 78 1/4 in. (153 × 198.8 cm)
Gift of Martin and Rita Skyler, 2002.32
Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Jim Sullivan first studied at the Rhode Island School of Design. Soon after, he became a Fulbright scholar and transferred to Stanford University. Other awards/grants include a Guggenheim Foundation Grant, and the National Endowment Arts Grant. Sullivan's paintings are owned by such prestigious institutions as the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Metropolitan Museum, New York.
Sullivan's paintings are completely invented, with little basis in reality. While the artist paints trees, mountains, and bodies of water, they appear in visionary lands. In many of Sullivan's works, one passes through several weather systems, and all suggest the passing of time. The viewer is invited to step closer to inspect the unusual palette, and consider the image and confusion presented.
