in memoriam cy twombly

American artist Cy Twombly has died in hospital in Rome at the age of 83 after a long illness. Born Edwin Parker Twombly, he had lived in the Italian capital since the 1950s.

Twombly is regarded as one of the most important members of the Abstract Expressionist movement and is often named in the same breath as Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, whom he met in the 1950s while a student in New York.

As a painter, he was famous for large abstract works using words and calligraphic, almost graffiti-like elements. Twombly frequently quoted from the French poet Stéphane Mallarmé, and drew inspiration from ancient mythology and allegories. He was also a sculptor and photographer, with work in the collections of numerous prestigious museum collections. In 1995, the Menil Collection in Houston, USA, dedicated a wing of their museum to him: the Cy Twombly Gallery.

The Stedelijk Museum hosted a solo exhibit of Twombly’s work in 1966. The artist also participated in the exhibitions Schrift en Beeld in 1963, 20 jaar verzamelen in 1984 and La Grande Parade in 1984-1985. The Stedelijk collection has a number of artworks by the artist, including the 1973 painting Untitled, acquired in 1982.

In 2010, Cy Twombly was invited to paint a ceiling of the Louvre in Paris, an honor last extended to Georges Braques in the 1950s.