One of my favourite artists, Cy Twombly sadly died last week on July 5th, at the age of 83. Twombly was a reclusive American artist, whose colourful scribbles and graffiti-like brushstrokes were so well recognised, they hardly needed a signature. The first retrospective of his work was held a few years ago at the Tate Modern marking his 80th birthday. The Dulwich Picture Gallery, this year, is staging a exhibition comparing Twombly to one of the most renowned 17th Century classical painters; Poussin.
As an impressionable teenager I remember walking around Tate Modern on a school art trip and being inspired by his Four Seasons paintings, wishing to imitate the casual but calculated drips of his work. The fluid brushstrokes taught me to be more bold and free with my paintbrush, letting the canvas take hold of itself in a more relaxed way. Twombly often talked about his work as a quick but prepared burst of lyrical energy; “My line is childlike but not childish. It is very difficult to fake.. to get that quality you need to project yourself into the child’s line. It has to be felt…I work in waves, because I’m impatient. Because of a certain physicality, of lack of breath from standing. It has to be done and I do take liberties I wouldn’t have taken before.”
Cy Twombly Ferragosto V 1961
Cy Twombly Poems to the Sea 1959
Cy Twombly Apollo and the Artist 1975
Poster for Cy Twombly’s exhibition ‘Three notes from Salalah’ at Gagosian Gallery, Rome 2008
Cy Twombly, From Quattro Stagioni, 1993-5
Images: Tate
