Book Description
One of the most important painters of today, Cy Twombly's epic yet intimate combinations of gestural abstraction, drawing, and writing have been moving viewers since the mid-1950s. This book presents a diverse array of short essays by leading art critics as they explore the many aspects of Twombly's work. Heiner Bastian considers the relation of Mallarmé's poetry to Twombly's visual language. John Berger meditates on language and words as they appear on the artist's canvases. Yve-Alain Bois muses on the scatological impulse. Philip Fisher dissects Twombly's zany neo-classicist storytelling. Robert Pincus-Witten tells us a few things about Twombly's relationship to Italy and the United States. And Harald Szeemann wonders about Twombly's very own brand of history painting. A rich and stimulating collection of writings, complemented by lavish plates showing many early works, Cy Twombly, produced in collaboration with the Daros Collection, is indispensable for anyone interested in deepening their understanding of the artist's work.
Essays by Heiner Bastian, John Berger, Yve-Alain Bois, Philip Fisher, Eva Keller, Ruth Langenberg, Carol Mancusi-Ungaro, Robert Pincus-Witten, Katharina Schmidt,Harald Szeeman and Beat Wismer.
Clothbound, 162 pages, 39 color and 10 b&w
About the author
Born in 1928 in Lexington, Virginia, Twombly studied art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Art Students League, New York, and Black Mountain College in North Carolina. In the mid 1950s, following travels in Europe and Africa, Twombly emerged as a prominent figure among a group of artists working in New York that included Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. In 1959, he settled permanently in Italy. Since then he has had numerous one-person exhibitions internationally and has been the subject of major retrospectives in both Europe and America.
