Art
JAN 2023
No. IV 1974 Cy Twombly 1928-2011 Purchased 1981 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/P07576
This month´s cover artist is the abstract expressionist, Cy Twombly. I have been a great admirer of his work for many years and was overjoyed when I came across these mushrooms prints, made by him in 1974.
This collection of prints are part of the Tate collection and is called Natural History Part I (Mushrooms). It was the first of two portfolios; the other was subtitled Some Trees of Italy. Twombly uses a quasi-scientific presentation with his characteristic expressive, gestural graphic language; the prints contain a variety of different lithographic printings with collaged sheets of paper and photographs. (text from here)
At the start of his career, Twombly was very influenced by Black Mountain Collage artists, such as Franz Kline and Robert Motherwell. Around 1955 he developed a more unique style with his artwork Academy. Instead of using paint, like most other artists at that time, Twombly decided to mark his canvas with pencils. He inovated ways in which to portray subjects that mattered to him; main inspirations were poetry such as such as Stéphane Mallarmé, Rainer Maria Rilke and John Keats and ancient mythology. After that he went into his most-famous painting style which resembles a child’s scribbling. He would imitate some Palmer Method exercises with wax crayons.
Palmer Method Example Picture
Cy Twombly, ‘Untitled (New York City),’ 1968
This phase is echoed in his last series titled Bacchus made in 2008 and Camino Real III made in 2010. Those were his final paintings before his death in 2011. (description about Twombly´s life taken from here)
Below are all 10 Cy Twombly prints from Natural History Part I (Mushrooms):
No. II 1974 Cy Twombly 1928-2011 Purchased 1981 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/P07574
No. X 1974 Cy Twombly 1928-2011 Purchased 1981 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/P07582
No. I 1974 Cy Twombly 1928-2011 Purchased 1981 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/P07573
No. III 1974 Cy Twombly 1928-2011 Purchased 1981 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/P07575
No. IV 1974 Cy Twombly 1928-2011 Purchased 1981 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/P07576
No. VI 1974 Cy Twombly 1928-2011 Purchased 1981 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/P07578
No. V 1974 Cy Twombly 1928-2011 Purchased 1981 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/P07577
No. VII 1974 Cy Twombly 1928-2011 Purchased 1981 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/P07579
No. VIII 1974 Cy Twombly 1928-2011 Purchased 1981 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/P07580
No. IX 1974 Cy Twombly 1928-2011 Purchased 1981 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/P07581
