"Each line is now the actual experience with its own innate history. It does not illustrate — it is the sensation of its own realization."
Cy Twombly was a seminal American artist who came of age immediately following the Abstract Expressionist generation. Born in Lexington, Virgina in 1928, his iconic large-scale paintings consisted of looping marks scribbled and smeared on raw canvas or linen. Twombly’s practice melded his interest in Roman and Greek mythological stories, including Leda and the Swan, with the frenetic doodling of chalk on a blackboard. “My line is childlike but not childish. It is very difficult to fake,” he once explained. “To get that quality you need to project yourself into the child's line. It has to be felt.”
Cy Twombly’s works are featured in many of the world’s most prestigious art collections, showcasing his profound influence on modern and contemporary art. The Menil Collection in Houston houses a dedicated Cy Twombly Gallery, designed in collaboration with the artist, which includes major works like the Lepanto cycle and Untitled (Say Goodbye, Catullus, to the Shores of Asia Minor). The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York holds iconic pieces such as The Four Seasons, while the Philadelphia Museum of Art is home to his monumental ten-painting cycle Fifty Days at Iliam. The Tate Modern in London features significant works, including his Bacchus series, and Munich’s Museum Brandhorst boasts an extensive collection of 170 pieces. Other notable institutions housing his work include the Art Institute of Chicago, the Musée du Louvre in Paris, and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, ensuring Twombly’s legacy endures on a global scale.