Cy Twombly
- Introduction
- Edwin Parker "Cy" Twombly Jr. (; April 25, 1928 – July 5, 2011) was an American painter, sculptor and photographer. He belonged to the generation of Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. Twombly is said to have influenced younger artists such as Anselm Kiefer, Francesco Clemente, and Julian Schnabel. His paintings are predominantly large-scale, freely-scribbled, calligraphic and graffiti-like works on solid fields of mostly gray, tan, or off-white colors. His later paintings and works on paper shifted toward "romantic symbolism", and their titles can be interpreted visually through shapes and forms and words. Twombly often quoted poets such as Stéphane Mallarmé, Rainer Maria Rilke and John Keats, as well as classical myths and allegories, in his works. Examples of this are his Apollo and The Artist and a series of eight drawings consisting solely of inscriptions of the word "VIRGIL". Twombly's works are in the permanent collections of modern art museums globally, including the Menil Collection in Houston, the Tate Modern in London, New York City's Museum of Modern Art and Munich's Museum Brandhorst. He was commissioned for the ceiling at the Musée du Louvre in Paris.In a 1994 retrospective, curator Kirk Varnedoe described Twombly's work as "influential among artists, discomfiting to many critics and truculently difficult not just for a broad public, but for sophisticated initiates of postwar art as well."
- Wikidata
- Q159566
- Introduction
- Twombly studied from 1948 to 1951 at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA, at the Museum School in Boston, and at the Art Students League in New York, where he met Robert Rauschenberg, who suggested that Twombly attend Black Mountain College, 1951-1952. In 1957 he relocated to Italy, where he would remain for the rest of his life, making Rome his primary residence. He is most well known for his large paintings populated with scribbled marks, calligraphic or graffiti-like words, letters, numbers, and references to Classical culture. He also produced prints, sculpture, and photographic works.
- Nationality
- American
- Gender
- Male
- Roles
- Artist, Painter, Photographer, Sculptor
- Names
- Cy Twombly, Edwin Parker Twombly, Jr. Edwin Parker Twombly
- Ulan
- 500032301
Exhibitions
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Degree Zero: Drawing at Midcentury
Through Feb 6
MoMA
Last chance -
408: Stamp, Scavenge, Crush
Oct 21, 2019–Sep 20, 2020
MoMA
Collection gallery
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The Long Run
Nov 11, 2017–May 5, 2019
MoMA
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Robert Rauschenberg: Among Friends
May 21–Sep 17, 2017
MoMA
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From the Collection:
1960–1969 Mar 26, 2016–Mar 19, 2017
MoMA
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Cy Twombly has
49 exhibitionsonline.
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Cy Twombly Untitled 1952
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Cy Twombly Tiznit New York 1953
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Cy Twombly Untitled (Funerary Box for a Lime Green Python) New York 1954
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Cy Twombly Untitled 1954
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Cy Twombly Untitled 1954
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Cy Twombly Untitled 1954
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Cy Twombly Untitled (1955)
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Cy Twombly Untitled New York 1955 (some cloth added in Philadelphia in 1975)
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Cy Twombly Academy New York 1955
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Cy Twombly The Italians Rome, January 1961
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Cy Twombly Leda and the Swan Rome 1962
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Cy Twombly Note I from an untitled series 1967
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Cy Twombly Note II from an untitled series 1967
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Cy Twombly Note III from an untitled series 1967
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Cy Twombly Note IV from an untitled series 1967
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Cy Twombly Untitled II (1967-74, dated 1967)
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Cy Twombly Sketches 1967, published 1975
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Cy Twombly A from Sketches 1967, published 1975
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Cy Twombly B from Sketches 1967, published 1975
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Cy Twombly C from Sketches 1967, published 1975
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Cy Twombly D from Sketches 1967, published 1975
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Cy Twombly E from Sketches 1967, published 1975
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Cy Twombly F from Sketches 1967, published 1975
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Cy Twombly Untitled 1968
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Cy Twombly Untitled 1968
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Cy Twombly Untitled 1970
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Cy Twombly Untitled 1972
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Lee Bontecou, Robert Breer, John Chamberlain, Walter De Maria, Mark di Suvero, Jim Dine, Öyvind Fahlström, Dan Flavin, Red Grooms, Hans Haacke, Alex Hay, Donald Judd, Ellsworth Kelly, Roy Lichtenstein, Sol LeWitt, Robert Morris, Louise Nevelson, Kenneth Noland, Claes Oldenburg, Nam June Paik, Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Whitman, James Rosenquist, George Segal, Richard Serra, Keith Sonnier, Richard Stankiewicz, Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol, Various Artists The New York Collection for Stockholm 1973
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Cy Twombly Untitled from The New York Collection for Stockholm 1973
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Cy Twombly Untitled from Homage to Picasso (Hommage à Picasso) 1973
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Cy Twombly Untitled I (1967-74, dated 1967)
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Cy Twombly Six Latin Writers and Poets (1975, published 1976)
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Cy Twombly Title page from the portfolio Six Latin Writers and Poets 1975-76
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Cy Twombly Tacitus from the portfolio Six Latin Writers and Poets 1975-1976
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Cy Twombly, Propyläen-Verlag, Berlin Orazio from the portfolio Six Latin Writers and Poets 1975-1976
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Cy Twombly Catullus from the portfolio Six Latin Writers and Poets 1975-1976
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Cy Twombly Apollodoro from the portfolio Six Latin Writers and Poets 1975-1976
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Cy Twombly Ovidio from the portfolio Six Latin Writers and Poets 1975-1976
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Cy Twombly Virgilius from the portfolio Six Latin Writers and Poets 1975-1976
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Cy Twombly Untitled Rome 1976
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Cy Twombly Untitled from the portfolio Art and Sports 1983
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Cy Twombly Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympics 1983
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Cy Twombly Untitled Rome 1984-85
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Cy Twombly By the Ionian Sea Naples 1988
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Cy Twombly Untitled Jupiter Island 1992
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Cy Twombly The Four Seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter 1993-94
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Cy Twombly Untitled Lexington 2005
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