“It’s more like I’m having an experience than making a picture.”
Cy Twombly
We lost one of our greatest painters this week. He certainly lived a long life and was incredibly productive throughout.
 |
| Hero and Leander (to Christopher Marlowe), Rome 1985, 202 x 254, Cy Twombly. |
My first experience of seeing one of his paintings in person was when I wandered into a room full of his chalkboard paintings at the Hirshorn in Washington DC twenty-four years ago. It looked something like this ...
 |
| from menil.org |
After being blown away by those I followed his paintings for years, always instantly recognizable, always beautiful in their urgent, intense way. Look what he does to some paper and scotch tape. Stunning.
 |
| Untitled, 1974. Wax paper, pencil, scotch tape, collage 75 x 106cm. Cy Twombly. |
And guess what? He attended Black Mountain College too. What is it about that school?! Today I spent some time delving into his sculptures. I had seen very few of these and had no idea he had created so many.
 |
| Untitled, New York 1953. wood, wire, twine, nails, housepaint and wax on cloth, 15 9 7/8" x 4" Collection of Robert Rauschenberg. |
His gesture translates effortlessly between materials. His fingerprints show through it all.
 |
Orpheus (Du Unendliche Spur) 1979. Wood, nails, paint, graphite. 266 x 244 x 22.2 cm. Collection of the artist by Cy Twombly. |
Read his obituary in the New York Times. And visit his website here.
6 comments:
yeah.. I love these chalkboard paintings.. he had such a great hand/style
Love this and i clicked on your collaboration projects..it looks so great Kathryn!
A great idea to show it digital!
yup. he was so so good !!
thanks for the kind words re: garbo....
well said.
i adore his work so much! just visited a show of his two weeks ago in munich - i was blown away. thank you for this post!
And thanks for including the Rauchenberg piece. Another genius and one who has inspired me greatly!
Post a Comment