The Last Paintings Cy Twombly
In tribute to the late Cy Twombly, Gagosian Gallery is proud to present his last paintings.
The eight untitled paintings are closely related to the Camino Real
group that inaugurated Gagosian Paris in 2010. The inimitable,
exuberant paintwork and bold, intense colors typify the freedom with
which Twombly worked, never restricted to a single reference. Even in
the face of his impending death, their elegiac power, vivid palette, and
ardent gestures pulse with the energies of the new.
Twombly remains one of the world's most
revered contemporary artists, whose central and ongoing relevance to the
art of the present is attested to by a stream of recent survey
exhibitions in leading international institutions. Since the opening of
the first Gagosian Gallery in New York in the mid-eighties, Twombly has
been a cornerstone of the gallery. He made many exhibitions there over
the last twenty-five years, each one as surprising and memorable as the
last, from the Bolsena Paintings (1990) to The Coronation of Sesostris (2001) to Lepanto (2002), Bacchus (2007), and The Rose (2009). Ten Sculptures and a Painting (2003), Three Notes for Salalah (2007), Leaving Paphos Ringed with Waves (2009), and Camino Real (2010) inaugurated new galleries in London, Rome, Athens, and Paris respectively.
This exhibition began in Los Angeles
earlier this year. Following the Hong Kong exhibition, it will travel to
Gagosian Gallery locations in London and New York throughout 2012.
A fully illustrated catalogue of the
paintings accompanies the exhibition, with essays by Achim Hochdorfer,
curator of "Cy Twombly: States of Mind" at Museum Moderner Kunst
Stiftung Ludwig Wien in 2009; curator Julie Sylvester, and a photo essay
by Sally Mann. A fully illustrated catalogue of the photographs with an
essay by Edmund de Waal, artist and author of The Hare with the Amber Eyes, is forthcoming.
Cy Twombly (1928-2011) was born in 1928 in Lexington, Virginia. He studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (1947-49); the Art Students League, New York (1950-51); and Black Mountain College, North Carolina (1951-52). In the mid-1950s, following travels in Europe and Africa, he emerged as a prominent figure among a group of artists working in New York that included Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. In 1968, the Milwaukee Art Center mounted his first retrospective. This was followed by major retrospectives at the Kunsthaus Zürich (1987) travelling to Madrid, London and Paris; the Museum of Modern Art, New York (1994) (travelling to Houston, Los Angeles, and Berlin) and the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich (2006). In 1995, the Cy Twombly Gallery opened at The Menil Collection, Houston, exhibiting works made by the artist since 1954. The European retrospective "Cy Twombly: Cycles and Seasons" opened at the Tate Modern, London in June 2008, with subsequent versions at the Guggenheim Bilbao and the Museum of Modern Art in Rome in 2009. Recent exhibitions include "Cy Twombly: The Natural World, Selected Works 2000–2007," The Art Institute of Chicago (2009) and "Sensations of the Moment," the Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna, (2009). In 2010, Twombly's permanent site-specific painting, Ceiling was unveiled in the Salle des Bronzes at the Musée du Louvre. At the same time he was made Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur by the French government.
Cy Twombly (1928-2011) was born in 1928 in Lexington, Virginia. He studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (1947-49); the Art Students League, New York (1950-51); and Black Mountain College, North Carolina (1951-52). In the mid-1950s, following travels in Europe and Africa, he emerged as a prominent figure among a group of artists working in New York that included Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. In 1968, the Milwaukee Art Center mounted his first retrospective. This was followed by major retrospectives at the Kunsthaus Zürich (1987) travelling to Madrid, London and Paris; the Museum of Modern Art, New York (1994) (travelling to Houston, Los Angeles, and Berlin) and the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich (2006). In 1995, the Cy Twombly Gallery opened at The Menil Collection, Houston, exhibiting works made by the artist since 1954. The European retrospective "Cy Twombly: Cycles and Seasons" opened at the Tate Modern, London in June 2008, with subsequent versions at the Guggenheim Bilbao and the Museum of Modern Art in Rome in 2009. Recent exhibitions include "Cy Twombly: The Natural World, Selected Works 2000–2007," The Art Institute of Chicago (2009) and "Sensations of the Moment," the Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna, (2009). In 2010, Twombly's permanent site-specific painting, Ceiling was unveiled in the Salle des Bronzes at the Musée du Louvre. At the same time he was made Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur by the French government.
Twombly died last year in Rome, Italy.
For further information please contact the gallery at hongkong@gagosian.com or at +852.2151.0555.
http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/cy-twombly--june-28-2012
Comments