Cy Twombly died in July 2011 shortly after I was able to see his sculpture collection at the Chicago Museum of Art. He died before I even made it home. I heard about it on the road and was stricken with sadness at his passing.
Cy was an American painter and sculptor who studied in Boston. In his lifetime, he served several times in the Army where he was a cryptologist. This talent would later find its way to his work and be very influential.
In the mid 90's I took an art class at North Seattle Community College just for fun. I also took Botany and Creative Writing. I was making attempts to create my own identity. My professor in art was a young woman and her favorite artist was Ellsworth Kelly whose work was bright and blocky and vibrant. The highlight of the class was a private tour she arrange for our class at the Seattle Art Museum....only it wasn't in the main gallery halls, but in the back room. We had a private showing of pieces not on display. One of these works was an 8 foot painting by Twombly.
The other students made fun of it and said it looked as if a kindergartner created it right before nap time. I could see the teacher was hurt by this, but she said nothing. I stood and examined this piece for a long time. It was mostly different shades of white with red markings, but it had texture and dimension. The innocent scribbles meant something. They were cryptograms, hidden messages. He was trying to tell us something about ourselves and we weren't listening.
I never forgot that moment or what my professor shared with us. She had passion and tried desperately to make a mark on us. I'm not sure how many of the students cared about that private showing, but it made me feel special. It started a love of Twombly.
Twombly had a wonderful, playful, colorful period when he did Peonies and other flowers. His work is always recognizable and distinct. His work is part of the permanent collections at the New York Museum of Modern Art as well as the Louvre in Paris. If you get a chance to see his work up close and personal you should do it. It has much more meaning when you can experience the texture and time it takes to create simplicity.
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