About
The past is a springboard for me. . . . Ancient things are new things. Everything lives in the moment; that’s the only time it can live, but its influence can go on forever.
—Cy Twombly
Gagosian is pleased to present Coronation of Sesostris, Cy Twombly’s epic painting that was shown for the first time at Gagosian 980 Madison Avenue in 2000. The exhibition coincides with In Beauty it is finished: Drawings 1951–2008, at Gagosian 21st Street, the first career-spanning presentation of Twombly’s works on paper.
Coronation of Sesostris (2000) is a painting cycle in ten parts. Begun in Gaeta, Italy, and completed in Lexington, Virginia, it combines Twombly’s graphic inventiveness and poetic sense of history, rhythm, and elision.
In his Histories, Herodotus recounts the conquests of the Egyptian pharaoh Sesostris, who led an army northward overland to Asia Minor, fighting his way westward until he crossed into Europe, where he defeated the Scythians and Thracians. In Twombly’s interpretation, this war-making, world-building ancient figure is a given fantastical meta-narrative, depicted in the arc of a single blazing day in Egypt from sunrise to journey’s end.
#CoronationofSesostris
Cy Twombly: Coronation of Sesostris
Cy Twombly’s Coronation of Sesostris (2000) receives a closer look by Gagosian Director, Mark Francis. In this video, he discusses the history of the work, the myths and poetry embedded within it, and considers its lasting impact.

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.

Rainer Maria Rilke: Duino Elegies
Bobbie Sheng explores the symbiotic relationship between the poet and visual artists of his time and tracks the enduring influence of his poetry on artists working today.

Now available
Gagosian Quarterly Summer 2020
The Summer 2020 issue of Gagosian Quarterly is now available, featuring Joan Jonas’s Mirror Piece 1 (1969) on its cover.

The River Café Cookbook
London’s River Café, a culinary mecca perched on a bend in the River Thames, celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in 2018. To celebrate this milestone and the publication of her cookbook River Café London, cofounder Ruth Rogers sat down with Derek Blasberg to discuss the famed restaurant’s allure.

In Conversation
Sally Mann and Jenny Saville
The two artists discuss being drawn to difficult subjects, the effects of motherhood on their practice, embracing chance, and their shared adoration of Cy Twombly.