Essential Cy Twombly, The

This book provides an authoritative overview of Twombly’s complex body of work, bringing together the most important of his paintings and painting cycles, as well as a selection of his drawings, sculptures and photographs. Each group of works is introduced and discussed by respected art historians, including Simon Schama, Laszlo Glozer, Kirk Varnedoe and Thierry Greub. Born in Lexington, Virginia, Cy Twombly (1928-2011) studied in Boston, New York, and at Black Mountain College, South Carolina, before travelling the world and eventually settling in Europe; from 1957 onwards, he was based in Italy. At an early stage, he began to develop his own symbolic language of letters and words, which suggested a pictorial form of poetry. References from art, history and mythology soon expanded this poetic vocabulary, often combined with a sensual engagement with the painted surface.