The Essential Cy Twombly

by Nicola Del Roscio (Editor), Laszlo Glozer (Text), Thierry Greub (Text)

Painted the ultimate monograph on Cy Twombly’s painting, drawing, sculpture and photography Recognized as one of the greatest and most idiosyncratic artists of the postwar era, Cy Twombly left behind an oeuvre of incredible versatility, sensitivity and originality upon his death in 2011 at age 83. Working in the immediate aftermath of abstract expressionism, Twombly developed an intensely personal scription consisting of scrawled letters and words, in an effusive, calligraphic mark-making that suggests a kind of painted poetry. Working across painting, drawing, sculpture and photography with a restless energy, Twombly incorporated the gods of Ancient Greece, the poetry of Stéphane Mallarmé and the history, culture and mythology of the Occident into his art. The Essential Cy Twombly, edited by Twombly's longtime collaborator Nicola Del Roscio, is the ultimate overview of his work, presenting the most important paintings and cycles of paintings, drawings, sculptures and photographs from Twombly's diverse oeuvre. The most accessible survey of his work to date, this volume includes essays by Laszlo Glozer, Thierry Greub, Kirk Varnedoe and Simon Schama.

Genres: Art

240 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 2014

Reviews

[Jeff Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a lot of great work here, but the book doesn't come close to living up to its title. For instance, a perplexing amount of space is devoted to Twomby's photos (the least of his art) while many of his most important and iconic paintings and series remain absent.

[John’aLee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought for a class I am taking with Jeanne Oliver on her network where she explores the techniques Cy Twombly used in his art.

[Rhode PVD · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cover is gorgeous. Many of the illustrations inside are gorgeous as well. There's a bit of everything, each of his stages of painting, sculptures, and photography. However, it's a limited bit of each, and frankly I would have been happier with far fewer photos ( which were not Twombly's strength to my mind) and fewer largely look alike sculptures, to make room for many more drawings and hand created pictures. I also would have liked a basic bio overview of the artist, but not this book assumes you already know the basics.

The commentary is on one hand insightful, but in the other hand way way way too ornately written. This is art critique done as an art form in and of itself, showing off how many big words the author knows and how he can twist them to form ever more complex sounding thoughts. I get fed up with that kind of writing quickly. I would rather have a variety of writers, or types of information. How about some reprinted reviews and interviews with Twobly at the various stages of his career? Why not photos and specifics of the places he lived which clearly hugely influenced his moods and art?
Etc. etc.

Overall I am disappointed in this book which is mistitled. It is not comprehensive in covering the subject, nor does it give a 180 view of the subject. It is not "essential", it is a few thin slices of a much larger pie.

That said, heck of a nice cover.

[Caroline]

Sometimes you look at an artist’s work for years, and then suddenly you see it. That happened to me with Twombly at the new SF MOMA a few weeks ago. This is a pretty good overview of his work.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the essays in this book, then looked at the pictures. Then reread some of the essays, and it's one of those books were there's a lot of assumed knowledge ... some of the back story is in the footnotes. Really though, the pictures are so luscious that it just made me want to draw and paint.

[ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

i think its weird that they talked so much abt his photos, yes very good go cy twombly but i was in it for the paintings/sculptures! but otherall it was informative n got the job done

[kavya]

"I've been very interested in the primitive art of the American Indian—of Mexico and Africa," he wrote in late November 1950. "So much art looks affected and tired after seeing the expressive simple directness of their work."

While that sentence could easily have been penned by hundreds of artists, the sentiment in fact informed a specific and personal, threefold attraction: to the fresh simplicity of "primitive" art's forms; to the evocative richness of its aged surfaces; and to the aura of animistic superstition or obsession that surrounded certain of its objects. In a statement on his work written in early 1952, Twombly affirmed: "For myself the past is the source (for all art is vitally contemporary). I'm drawn to the primitive, the ritual and fetish elements, to the symmetrical plastic order (peculiarly basic to both primitive and classic concepts, so relating the two)."

"In any event, literature takes its place as an autonomous medium with its own rules next to the painted subject, and it does so with the aim of dissolving the boundaries between literature and image, between what is written and what is painted, in order, at long last, to evoke poetry via drawing and painting as well as sculptural and photographic means."


75 Quattro Stagioni, 1993/94
The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of the artist
P IV. 63
Part I: Primavera

[Kerwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A coffee book that I spin through regularly. Portland Art Museum had a Cy Twombly painting in 2009 era, and I was transfixed. Then I made a trip to NYC in 2014, in part, to go see another of his paintings. This survey of his work is as close as I'll get to having it all.

[Jake Abbe-Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent overview of twomblys work and influences. The last essay was phenomenal and digestible. Really enjoyed reading that one. The images are fantastic as well.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have dipped into this several times and as an introduction have found it both useful and beautiful...I love love love the blowsy paintings!