Cy Twombly (1928-2011)

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Details

Cy Twombly (1928-2011)
Untitled
signed and inscribed ‘Cy Twombly Roma’ (lower left); dated ‘MCMXXXXXX’ (centre right)
pencil and coloured pencil on paper
27 7/8 x 39in. (70.7 x 99cm.)
Executed in 1960

Provenance

Barone Giorgio Franchetti, Rome.
Anon. sale, Christie’s New York, 6 May 1987, lot 158A.
Vrej Baghoomian, Inc., New York.
Mark Glabman Fine Arts, Los Angeles.
Private Collection, Belgium.
Anon. sale, Versailles Enchères Perrin-Royère-Lajeunesse, 23 April 2006, lot 98.
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner.

Literature

M. Calvesi, L'Immagine Esistenziale, 1958-1964, Milan 1984, no. 44 (illustrated, p. 21).
N. Del Roscio, Cy Twombly Drawings, Cat. Rais. Vol. 2 1956-1960, Berlin/Passau 2012 , no. 179 (illustrated in colour, p. 214).

Exhibited

New York, Vrej Baghoomian, Inc., Cy Twombly, 1988 (illustrated, unpaged).
Paris, Galerie Di Meo, Twombly, 1989, no. 8 (illustrated, p. 39).

Brought to you by

Alexandra Werner

awerner@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2713

Lot Essay

‘The graphic language of Twombly remains at all times inimitable. The miracle of Twombly is precisely this manner of writing, of dis-figuring symbols, alphabets and numbers; and of expressing nothing but himself, with a claim of absolute totality, when he accomplishes this revolution of the sign. Expressing nothing but himself, totally - that is the fluctuating rhythm, contradictory, secret and esoteric, of the creative act. Twombly’s egocentric sincerity is the sun radiating from his work’ (P. Restany, quoted in H. Szeemann, Cy Twombly: Paintings, Works on Paper, Sculpture, exh. cat., Kunsthaus Zürich, Zurich 1987, p. 25).

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Lot Essay

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