Cy Twombly

From WikiEducators Guggenheim Bilbao

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao presents, in cooperation with the Tate Modern, London, an important retrospective exhibition on Cy Twombly (1928, Lexington,Virginia), one of the most influential artists of late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

Organised thematically, the exhibition spans virtually all of Twombly’s career as an artist, from the 1950s to the present. Therefore, there’s no need to follow any particular order to enjoy the exhibit. Pay attention to the different series on display in each gallery; even if the individual works belong to different periods, they are shown together because of their thematic or technical connections. Come discover them with your students!

The exhibition takes an in-depth look at his paintings, sculptures and drawings, allowing viewers to unlock the inherent keys to Twombly’s creative process, his ideas on the passing of time, history, poetry, and figures from classical mythology, as well as techniques such as his use of pencils and calligraphy.

The development of pictorial and sculptural abstraction in the 20th century

The work of Cy Twombly is an essential contribution to the development of pictorial and sculptural abstraction.

Cy Twombly studied in Boston and at the influential Art Students League in New York, where he met Robert Rauschenberg in 1950. In 1951 he attended Black Mountain College, where he came in contact with artists Ben Shahn, Robert Motherwell and Franz Kline. In this context, Twombly moved toward Abstract Expressionism, and away from the more figurative artistic language. By that time, however, Twombly was already showing a clear interest in European avant-garde art and often traveled to New York to visit exhibitions by European avant-garde artists. Starting in 1952 his time in Europe eventually distanced his work, in both space and theory, from the artistic dynamics of New York.

His paintings, drawings and sculptures show influences of American and European abstraction, with special emphasis on the creation of symbols and forms linked to the unconscious mind and spontaneity.

Cy Twombly’s work incorporates references from nature, literature, history and classical mythology through gestural and poetic painting and sculpture. As we explore his work, we can see distinguish his contacts with the European informalism of Alberto Burri and Jean Dubuffet.

His sculptures suggest the Surrealist technique of accumulating unlike objects, which he covers with white paint, giving them the appearance of poetic altars.

Painting and drawing in 20th and 21st century art

Cy Twombly integrates painting and drawing in his compositions, combining thick strokes, graphics and colour.

The formal use of words and letters in his compositions focus attention on graphic art and calligraphy, blurring the boundary between drawing and painting.

Cy Twombly uses pencil and materials closely associated with the discipline of drawing, such as crayons and charcoal, the outcome leaning heavily on pictorial conventions. At the same time, he seems to use calligraphy as a way of shifting the energy and impulsiveness of gestural expression, so characteristic of American abstract expressionists, to a more intimate and reflective act.

Resources

Library

Serota, Nicholas. Cy Twombly. Cycles and seasons. Tate Gallery Publications, London, 2008.
Cy Twombly: Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings/Edited by Heiner Bastian. [Munich]: Schirmer–Mosel, 1992–1995.
Cy Twombly: Catalogue Raisonné of Sculpture: volume I: 1946–1997, edited by Nicola del Roscio; texts by Arthur Danto. Munich: Planco; Schirmer–Mosel, 1997.
Die skulptur = The sculpture. Ostfildern–Ruit: Hatje Cantz, 2000. Exposition at the Kunstmuseum Basel from 15 April–30 July, 2000 and at the Menil Collection (Houston), 20 Spet., 2000–7 Jan., 2001.
Leeman, Richard. Cy Twombly: a monograph. London: Thames & Hudson, 2005.
Cy Twombly: fifty years of works on paper. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art; Munich: Schimel–Mosel, 2004. Revised edition of: Cy Twombly at the Hermitage: fifty years of works on paper. Exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York) from 27.01 to 08.05.2005; and the Menil Collection (Houston) from 27 May–4 Sept., 2005.
Varnedoe, Kirk. Twombly, Cy, Museum of Modern Art (New York).
Varnedoe, Kirk. Cy Twombly, a retrospective. New York: Museum of Modern Art. Exhibition catalogue, 25 Sept., 1994–10 Jan., 1995.