Reading Cy Twombly: Poetry in Paint

by Mary Jacobus

The first book on the central importance of literary sources in the paintings of Cy TwomblyMany of Cy Twombly's paintings and drawings include handwritten words and phrases—naming or quoting poets ranging from Sappho, Homer, and Virgil to Mallarmé, Rilke, and Cavafy. Enigmatic and sometimes hard to decipher, these inscriptions are a distinctive feature of his work. Reading Cy Twombly poses both literary and art historical questions. How does poetic reference in largely abstract works affect their interpretation?Reading Cy Twombly is the first book to focus specifically on the artist’s use of poetry. Twombly’s library formed an extension of his studio and he sometimes painted with a book open in front of him. Drawing on original research in an archive that includes his paint-stained and annotated books, Mary Jacobus’s account—richly illustrated with more than 125 color and black-and-white images—unlocks an important aspect of Twombly’s practice.Jacobus shows that poetry was an indispensable source of reference throughout Twombly’s career; as he said, he "never really separated painting and literature." Among much else, she explores the influence of Ezra Pound and Charles Olson; Twombly’s fondness for Greek pastoral poetry and Virgil’s Eclogues; the inspiration of the Iliad and Ovid’s Metamorphoses; and Twombly’s love of Keats and his collaboration with Octavio Paz.Twombly’s art reveals both his distinctive relationship to poetry and his use of quotation to solve formal problems. A modern painter, he belongs in a critical tradition that goes back, by way of Roland Barthes, to Baudelaire. Reading Cy Twombly opens up fascinating new readings of some of the most important paintings and drawings of the twentieth century.

Genres: Art, Poetry

316 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 16, 2016

Reviews

[Skyler Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Cy Twombly is a thorough multidisciplinary analysis of Twombly’s body of work. Literary scholar Mary Jacobus does something unique and quite exceptional: she regards Twombly’s work, and by extension his life, and the words and literary subject matter embedded therein.

Twombly was a prolific reader and a lover of classics. This is evident in his paintings and in the archive made available following his death. Jacobus’s expertise in the written word and her professional skills as a scholar has allowed her to present a deep and critical analysis of one of the most influential and misread (pun intended) artists of the 20th century. There is a great deal to be gleaned from the art and literary criticism Jacobus provides. The aspect of her discussions I find most interesting is the way she relates these critical analyses to the biographical details of Twombly’s life.

This book is organized well and naturally well cited. The writing, while dense and likely unappealing to some casual readers, is clear, descriptive, and, had Jacobus not stated her qualifications explicitly, would lead me to believe she was a world class art scholar. The photographs provided are abundant, beautiful, and masterfully used to support the material.

Considering my own personal interest and admiration of both Cy Twombly and the written word I understand that there is a great deal of bias in my opinion of this book. I would argue that even without bias towards Twombly this is a work worth reading for lovers of art and words. Well done Mary. Please do Pollock next.

[Margaryta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite what I was expecting. More of a literary study than a way of connecting Twombly's paintings with the poetry he used into some sort of symbiotic analysis. Only towards the end-in chapter 8 and in the Postscript-does Jacobus get into the kind of analysis and discussion that I originally thought this book would center around, where art and poetry are seen as working in tandem. There were, however, wonderful observations scattered throughout that make the book an enjoyable and insightful read nonetheless, like Jacobus' discussion of how 'scribbles' are a challenge for those who study people's handwriting because scribbles lack the repetition and personality trates that are otherwise present in one's writing.

[Viktoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

[Chris Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was in two minds about Twombly's work - some of it is clearly the work of a genius and some of it seems - to be perfectly honest - fraudulent ...

This book hasn't really changed that.