The art world is mourning the loss of one of the greats: Cy Twombly who died on Tuesday in Rome at the age of 83. He was the enfant terrible of the post war American Art movement. Born in Virginia 1928, Edwin Parker Twombly was widely know for his caligraphic and graffitti style works. His CV reads like a who’s who of the art world. Despite being largely ignored by the critics in his early career and he likewise ignoring them – his career turned during the 1980′s with the arrival of a generation of younger artists who found him a great source of inspiration at the time European Artists were gaining wider interest and by 1989 the Philedelphia Museum of Art opened two rooms dedicated to his work, the rest as they say, is history.
The Tate carried a solo retrospective for him in 2008 and finally w week before his death, Twombly’s work was exhibited alongside one of his personal heros Poussin – at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, something I’m sure would have given him great satisfaction.
The name ‘Cy’ was a nick name shared by his father who pitched for the Chicago White Sox and given the moniker in deference to Cy Young. Cy Twombly leaves a son Cyrus, who is also a painter and lives in Rome.
