Author Description

One of the essential artists of our time, Cy Twombly is known primarily for his paintings, but his lesser-known sculpture oeuvre is an important dimension of his work as an artist. This large-format publication reveals his extensive body of sculptural work. Inspired by Kurt Schwitters, Giacometti and Surrealist object art, some of his early assemblages date back to the 1950s. These pieces are composed of everyday found objects, which Twombly arranged in the vein of magical or fetishistic objects. Later he began to cover them with a uniform coat of white paint. Thus placed in a new formal context, the original meaning of the individual pieces is blurred, connecting them with a wide range of cultural references. Literature and music, landscape and plantlife are all evoked. Twombly's sculptures are always white, exuding both an odd, ethereal quality and an aura of timeless poetry.