Author Description

Cy Twombly, born in Lexington, Virginia, in 1928, entered the stage of contemporary art with his drawings. His nervous line making distinguished him from all his colleagues who in the 50s and 60s were involved in Abstract Expressionism. His tumbling and nervous markings opened new and psychological spaces to a personal and very conceptual art. At first mistaken for something between graffiti and ecriture automatique, Cy Twombly's graphic notes eventually transformed into huge canvases of paintings in which he incorporated these notes as a maelstrom of emotional states. The Catalogue Raisonne of Drawings, edited by Nicola Del Roscio, is published in successive volumes. Volume 4, covering the years 1964-1969, features Twombly's First whorl works and his famous series Letters of Resignation.