Cy Twombly free essay sample

He had his first solo exhibition at the Kootz Gallery and later attended Black Mountain College. During his years of studying, he met Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell and Robert Rauschenberg. He became a pupil of Kline and Motherwell while life long friends with Rauschenberg whom he traveled around the Mediterranean with. This influenced his art into adding the vast cultures he encountered during that time. Between 1953 and 1954, Twombly joined the U. S. Army as a cryptologist that also gave him the idea to put hidden words and meanings in his pieces. Soon after he taught at Southern Seminary Junior College until finally settling down in Rome where he kept to a life of seclusion. Twombly continued to try many styles, be a part of many exhibitions, and also won the ‘Gerhard Altenbourg Prize’ in 2008. His life finally ended on July 5, 2011. Throughout Twombly’s life, he dabbled into Abstract Expressionism, Neo-Dada, Minimalism and others but was never fully a part of any movement. We will write a custom essay sample on Cy Twombly or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page For these reasons, Twombly stayed as a divisive artist since almost the beginning of his art career. Throughout Twombly’s life, his style had changed numerous of times. These include his colourful and complex works from his early years in Rome such as â€Å"Ferragosto†, the simplified, geometric shaped â€Å"blackboard† paintings from his later years in Rome, the painted white abstract sculptures and more that were inspired from historical stories and myths. These include artworks such as â€Å"Cycnus† and â€Å"Vengeance of Achilles†. Lastly, many of Twombly’s pieces held hidden writings in them such as in collection of â€Å"Roses† artwork. Although it may not be noticed at first, each one has its own poem that captures different emotions in them. La vie en rose. One of his well-known pieces is â€Å"Lepanto† which was made in 2001. The materials used were acrylics, wax crayon and graphite. It is number seven in a set of twelve Lepanto works that he was commissioned to paint. The pieces were based on the great naval fight between the Catholic Europe and Islamic Ottoman Empire during the 16th century on the Gulf of Lepanto. The ship-like forms are seen as splashes of bright red and yellow that resembles cannon fire and soldiers’ torches that were used during the battle. Also the dripping effect that was achieved by either watered down acrylic or melted wax crayon gave it a ‘downward’ effect because it makes you look down the piece. The colours used varied and contrasted with each other, especially the background colour. It is most prominently seen on the top left of the piece because there is nothing on top of it so you can easily see the light blue. This contrasts with the rest of the piece of the many colours compacted on top of it such as magenta, purple, green and more. This is especially seen on the bottom right where there are multitudes of colours near each other. Doing this gives the piece a sense of unbalance between the top left and bottom right parts. Although this piece was based after the fight on the Gulf of Lepanto, many people have instead been reminded of the post 9/11 struggle between Islam and the West because of the time the piece was made. In Twombly’s only written statement about his work, he explained the intentions in his work were not to illustrate, but to have the sensation of its own realization. He would say â€Å"It’s more like I’m having an experience than making a picture,† and that each line he made was â€Å"the actual experience† of making the line. This showed that every line he would create was its own experience to him. In the later time of his life, Twombly’s art began to impact other artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Francesco Clemente, Anselm Kiefer and Julian Schnabel. Since Twombly’s style was not considered in the norm of his time, his art was not sought for until the latter of his life where art movements egan to move and change. Ironically, Twombly disliked this sudden fame and tried to get away, enjoying seclusion much more. Even so, his works, such as his scribbly ‘childish’ pieces, continued to influence artists, which led to the creation of the Graffiti Art and Neo-Expressionism movements. Despite Twombly’s death, his work still continues to influence many artists in the now. His unique st yle has set him apart from other famous artists during his time that has led him to be one of the most famous artists during the postmodern movement. An especially inspirational quote from him is â€Å"I sit for two or three hours and then in 15 minutes I can do a painting, but that’s part of it. You have to get ready and decide to jump up and do it; you build yourself up psychologically, and so painting has no time for brush. Brush is boring, you give it and all of a sudden it’s dry, you have to go. Before you cut the thought, you know? † The quote just goes to show that art can’t be forced. You have to let it flow at its own pace to create a piece of artwork.