Cy Twombly 1928-2011

Cy Twombly (1928–2011) occupies a distinctive position within post-war American art. Emerging from the context of Abstract Expressionism, Twombly developed a visual language that brought together painting, drawing and writing, while drawing extensively on classical literature, mythology and the cultural history of the Mediterranean.

Born in Lexington, Virginia, Twombly studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Art Students League in New York and Black Mountain College in North Carolina. At Black Mountain College, he encountered artists and thinkers including Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell and John Cage. His friendship with Robert Rauschenberg was also formative during these early years.

In 1952, Twombly travelled through Europe and North Africa with Rauschenberg. The journey marked an important transition in his practice and strengthened his connection with European art and culture. After several years between the United States and Europe, Twombly settled permanently in Italy in 1959, making Rome the centre of his artistic life.

Twombly's work occupies a space between painting, drawing and writing. Lines, inscriptions, fragments of words and references to poetry and mythology become integral elements of the composition. Rather than functioning simply as text, writing in Twombly's work operates as a visual and material element within the painting. His engagement with language is closely connected to his sustained interest in classical poetry, particularly the works of Homer, Sappho and Virgil.

His relationship with European antiquity became increasingly important after his move to Italy. Classical mythology, history and poetry provided Twombly with recurring subjects, which he approached not through conventional representation but through an interplay of colour, line, gesture and inscription. In this way, references to the past remain present within an essentially contemporary pictorial language.

Twombly also produced an important body of sculpture, consisting largely of assembled objects and found materials. Painted white, these works establish a dialogue with classical sculpture while retaining the material presence of the objects from which they are constructed.

Throughout his career, Twombly exhibited internationally, including at the Venice Biennale, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and Tate Modern in London. In 2001, he was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale.

Today, Twombly is regarded as one of the defining figures of post-war American art. His work brought together the traditions of European culture and the radical possibilities of post-war painting, creating a practice in which language, memory, mythology and the act of painting itself remain inseparably connected.