7.07.2011

Artist : Cy Twombly 1928 - 2011

 “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:

kitty kilian said...

yeah.. I love these chalkboard paintings.. he had such a great hand/style

**EYE-SNACKS** said...

Love this and i clicked on your collaboration projects..it looks so great Kathryn!
A great idea to show it digital!

lisa solomon said...

yup. he was so so good !!

thanks for the kind words re: garbo....

Anonymous said...

well said.

WSAKE 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!

Roxanne said...

And thanks for including the Rauchenberg piece. Another genius and one who has inspired me greatly!

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails