About
White paint is my marble.
—Cy Twombly
Gagosian is pleased to present an exhibition of Cy Twombly’s sculptures, in association with the Cy Twombly Foundation. The exhibition marks the publication of the second volume of the catalogue raisonné of sculptures, edited by Nicola Del Roscio, President of the Cy Twombly Foundation, and published by Schirmer/Mosel.
Twombly made his sculptures from found materials such as plaster, wood, and iron, as well as objects that he habitually used and handled in the studio. From 1946 onward, he created many assemblages, though they were rarely exhibited before the 1997 publication of the first volume of his catalogue raisonné. Often modest in scale, they embody his artistic language of handwritten glyphs and symbols, evoking narratives from antiquity and fragments of literature and poetry.
Many of Twombly’s sculptures are coated in white paint, which unifies and neutralizes the assembled materials and renders the newly formed object into a coherent whole. In referring to white paint as his “marble,” Twombly recalls traditions of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman sculpture while also subverting marble’s classical connotation of perfection through his roughly painted surfaces. The intimate scale of these works, together with their textural coats of paint, underscores their fundamentally haptic nature.
#CyTwomblySculpture
Cy Twombly: Imperfect Paradise
Eleonora Di Erasmo, cocurator of Un/veiled: Cy Twombly, Music, Inspirations, a program of concerts, video screenings, and works by Cy Twombly at the Fondazione Nicola Del Roscio, Rome, reflects on the resonances and networks of inspiration between the artist and music. The program was the result of an extensive three-year study, done at the behest of Nicola Del Roscio in the Rome and Gaeta offices of the Cy Twombly Foundation, intended to collect, document, and preserve compositions by musicians around the world who have been inspired by Twombly’s work, or to establish an artistic dialogue with them.
Cy Twombly: Making Past Present
In 2020, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, announced their plan for a survey of Cy Twombly’s artwork alongside selections from their permanent ancient Greek and Roman collection. The survey was postponed due to the lockdowns necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic, but was revived in 2022 with a presentation at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles from August 2 through October 30. In 2023, the exhibition will arrive at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The curator for the exhibition, Christine Kondoleon, and Kate Nesin, author of Cy Twombly’s Things (2014) and advisor for the show, speak with Gagosian director Mark Francis about the origin of the exhibition and the aesthetic and poetic resonances that give the show its title: Making Past Present.
Say Goodbye, Catullus, to the Shores of Asia Minor
Thierry Greub tracks the literary references in Cy Twombly’s epic painting of 1994.
Now available
Gagosian Quarterly Summer 2021
The Summer 2021 issue of Gagosian Quarterly is now available, featuring Carrie Mae Weems’s The Louvre (2006) on its cover.
Twombly and the Poets
Anne Boyer, the inaugural winner of the Cy Twombly Award in Poetry, composes a poem in response to Twombly’s Aristaeus Mourning the Loss of His Bees (1973) and introduces a portfolio of the painter’s works accompanied by the poems that inspired them.
Now available
Gagosian Quarterly Spring 2021
The Spring 2021 issue of Gagosian Quarterly is now available, featuring Gerhard Richter’s Helen (1963) on its cover.
News
Online Reading
Cy Twombly
Sculpture
Cy Twombly: Sculpture is available for online reading from November 1 through November 30 as part of the From the Library series. The book documents a 2019 exhibition at Gagosian, Grosvenor Hill, London, which brought together important and rarely shown sculptures by the artist. Twombly made his sculptures from found materials such as plaster, wood, and iron, as well as objects that he habitually used and handled in the studio. Often modest in scale, they embody his artistic language of handwritten glyphs and symbols, evoking narratives from antiquity and fragments of literature and poetry. The book includes a conversation between Nicola Del Roscio, president of the Cy Twombly Foundation; art historian and curator Sir Nicholas Serota; and Gagosian director Mark Francis.
Cy Twombly: Sculpture (London: Gagosian, 2019)
Tour
Cy Twombly
Sculpture
Wednesday, December 4, 2019, 6:15pm
Gagosian, Grosvenor Hill, London
Join Gagosian for a tour of Cy Twombly: Sculpture, currently on view at Grosvenor Hill, London. The exhibition, presented in association with the Cy Twombly Foundation, marks the publication of the second volume of the catalogue raisonné of Twombly’s sculptures edited by Nicola Del Roscio and published by Schirmer/Mosel. Gagosian’s Alice Godwin will lead the tour, providing an overview of the materials, processes, and influences behind the artist’s sculptural works. To attend the free event, RSVP to londontours@gagosian.com. Space is limited.
Cy Twombly, Untitled, 2004 © Cy Twombly Foundation
In Conversation
Edmund de Waal and Christine Kondoleon on Cy Twombly
Friday, October 4, 2019, 3pm
Regent’s Park, London
frieze.com
As part of the Frieze Masters Talks program, Edmund de Waal will discuss the work of Cy Twombly with Christine Kondoleon of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. De Waal has a particular affinity for Twombly’s ability to create works that are simultaneously personal and mythological, allowing narrative, language, and inner visions to erupt from his intimate, abstract notations. To attend the free event, register at the Frieze Masters auditorium desk the day of the talk.
Photo: Ben McKee
Screening
Cy Twombly
Cy Dear
Friday, October 4, 2019, 6:30–8:30pm
National Portrait Gallery, London
www.npg.org.uk
Cy Dear (2018), a film that traces the life and work of Cy Twombly, will be screened at the National Portrait Gallery as part of the museum’s Friday Lates program. The documentary pays homage to the artist’s prolific career, looking closely at his work around the world and the different creative periods within his oeuvre. To attend the event, purchase tickets at www.npg.org.uk.
Cy Twombly, Îles des Saintes, Guadeloupe, 1979. Photo © Fondazione Nicola Del Roscio, courtesy Archives Nicola Del Roscio