Cy Twombly

Cy Twombly (Edwin Parker Twombly Jr.; 1928 – 2011) was a painter, sculptor, and photographer from the USA. His art style is typically large-scale, freely scribbled, calligraphic and graffiti-like works on solid fields of mostly grey, tan, or off-white colours. His later paintings and works on paper shifted towards “Romantic Symbolism”, and their titles can be interpreted visually. Twombly often quoted poets such as Stéphane Mallarmé, Rainer Maria Rilke and John Keats, as well as classical myths and allegories, in his works. He was interested in graffiti, and often incorporated words, text and poetry into his paintings. Although many of Twombly’s artworks are linked to styles and movements, such as Abstract Expressionism, Neo-Dada, Minimalism, Conceptual Art, and Neo-Expressionism, none of these categories fully describes the diversity and richness of his body of work. His unique style always sets him apart from the prevailing trends.