One of Salvador Dali’s more controversial pieces, Corpus Hypercubus is a 1954 oil painting on canvas. After showing interest in nuclear science after the atomic bombing at the end of World War II he began to develop an art theory called ‘Nuclear Mysticism’ which composed of different theories that try to show the relationships between quantum physics and the conscious mind. Before painting corpus hypercubus, Dali declared his intention to depict an exploding Christ, claiming that “this painting will be the great metaphysical work of [his] summer” This piece is so interesting as the contents of Dali’s spiritual conflict is almost depicted in the painting. Dali’s use of the tesseract (a hyper cube which only exists in four dimensions of space) as a motif of the concept of God existing in a spacial dimension other than ours is a fascinating exploration of the idea of an incompressible space in which other forces/energies live. This painting is almost a perfect marriage of art and existential philosophy which can be said to be ahead of its time.
Corpus Hypercubus 1954
Sources:
- “Salvador Dali: painting the fourth dimension”. Philipcoppens.com. Retrieved 2016-10-28.