Though printmaking has been an important means of expression for many artists of Cy Twombly’s generation, it was a brief endeavor for Twombly. The bulk of his printmaking activity was primarily confined to a single decade of his long career – from the late 1960s to the late 1970s – and his output is modest in comparison with Johns and Rauschenberg, who are each prolific printmakers. In fact, a majority of the editions Twombly produced were a result of his close friendship with the latter. That said, he worked in nearly all traditional printmaking techniques during this period, including line etching, mezzotint, aquatint, lithography, and screen-printing. The prints reflect his general concerns at the time they were created, and edition sizes are generally quite small. Many of them were issued as portfolios, in keeping with his mode of painting and drawing in cycles.