On the Friday that I was in New York, I visited MoMA, which was fairly overwhelming by the scale of the place and variety of artwork shown. However, my favourite pieces of art were created by Cy Twombly. I have previously looked at his work in small detail, however seeing his work up close impacted me more than looking at his work on a screen or a piece of paper. Although I really enjoyed viewing his work in more detail, I much preferred his composition, "Venus", 1975.
As a part of the abstract expressionist movement in the 1940's and 50's, Twombly was able to convey mood and concept through his work by creating something out of the ordinary through his electric mark making and improvised, inventive surfaces.
It is clear that Cy Twombly has been highly influenced by literature and different forms of writing, which is what interests me about his work more than anything as it is something that is not very common among other artists. In his composition, "Venus", he has been influenced by Greek culture and mythology during the 1960's, which was also helped by his move to Southern Italy, giving him much easier access to resources; this is why it is clear that Greek literature has been inscribed into the piece. The word, "Asteria", has been used occasionally in this piece and when translated it means "stars", linking to common mythology and a way of identifying constellations. Each word in his piece have been directly taken from different forms of literary works; in this case Greek mythology. the almost collage of quotes links quite well to the other artist that I saw in New York, Jacques Villegle, who uses posters and stickers to create collages, so I think that the two work well together due to the juxtaposition of visuals and literature.
In regards to colour and tone, Twombly has used a fairly basic colour palette by using slightly off white as the background and minimal tones of red. As "Venus" was another name for the Greek Goddess, "Aphrodite", the Goddess of love, I think his intention of using red was highly justified as this colour has connotations of love and lust, something that this mythical Goddess is known for. The off-white could represent innocence-lost; almost like the white has been corrupted by the powerful red on the page, "Venus". Additionally, I think the fact that Twombly has used the cloudy like white in the composition and that it is similar to old pages of a book, helps to make connections between old literature and his style of art (this can also be seen in "The Four Season's" collection).
Although the majority of the marks on "Venus" appear childlike, the chaotic and energetic marks are what make the piece exciting. I think that the uncontrolled marks are what express his feelings towards literature and old mythical stories, almost like a child would express his/her feelings through mood. Like most abstract expressionist's, Twombly is manipulating what he sees in his head in an almost spontaneous manner, yet the aspect that distinguishes his work from others like Jackson Pollock, is the fact that he chooses to use other materials than paint.
When looking at the composition of the piece, it appears to be quite empty and open which could be used to convey the idea that there is more to the story; more to the story of Venus. the layout of some of the text in the piece comes across as a list of characters or maybe a timeline of events, further reinforcing the idea that Twombly has taken influence from old style literature.
Throughout Twombly's body of work, the use of paint is evident, however he uses multiple other mediums in order to express his feelings and ideas appropriately. For example, "Venus" is a mixed media composition that combines the use of acrylic, oil pastel and lead pencil.Whilst this variety of mediums just goes to show how much passion and interest is in his work and how inspired he is by his main source of influence, Greek literature, it also implies that he is spontaneous when it comes to his work and open minded to using other mediums, unlike some other abstract expressionists at that time. As he grew as an artist over time, he felt more comfortable to work on a larger scale, which I think improves his work as he is able to be more free with his marks and express his feelings in a much deeper, emotional way; this is something that I am going to be working on.
How am I going to use this as influence in my work?
In New York, I bought some letters and postcards that have ben written by people decades ago (as seen in previous blog post). I want to use these old forms of communication as a starting point to my work and create responses of these in the style of Twombly, including composition style and colour palette. I will create multiple experiments before this, making studies from the letters and postcards themselves including font and colour. I have also started to make studies of Cy Twombly's work so that I can begin to fully understand how he works and his techniques. The off white colour palette will be useful when linking my work to the exam question, "Timeworn" as the old letters and postcards have faded in colour.
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| Cy Twombly MoMA A piece from his collection, "The Four Seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter" 1993-1994 313 x 189 cm |
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| Cy Twombly "Venus" 1975 150 x 137 cm Oil pastel and lead pencil |
As a part of the abstract expressionist movement in the 1940's and 50's, Twombly was able to convey mood and concept through his work by creating something out of the ordinary through his electric mark making and improvised, inventive surfaces.
It is clear that Cy Twombly has been highly influenced by literature and different forms of writing, which is what interests me about his work more than anything as it is something that is not very common among other artists. In his composition, "Venus", he has been influenced by Greek culture and mythology during the 1960's, which was also helped by his move to Southern Italy, giving him much easier access to resources; this is why it is clear that Greek literature has been inscribed into the piece. The word, "Asteria", has been used occasionally in this piece and when translated it means "stars", linking to common mythology and a way of identifying constellations. Each word in his piece have been directly taken from different forms of literary works; in this case Greek mythology. the almost collage of quotes links quite well to the other artist that I saw in New York, Jacques Villegle, who uses posters and stickers to create collages, so I think that the two work well together due to the juxtaposition of visuals and literature.
In regards to colour and tone, Twombly has used a fairly basic colour palette by using slightly off white as the background and minimal tones of red. As "Venus" was another name for the Greek Goddess, "Aphrodite", the Goddess of love, I think his intention of using red was highly justified as this colour has connotations of love and lust, something that this mythical Goddess is known for. The off-white could represent innocence-lost; almost like the white has been corrupted by the powerful red on the page, "Venus". Additionally, I think the fact that Twombly has used the cloudy like white in the composition and that it is similar to old pages of a book, helps to make connections between old literature and his style of art (this can also be seen in "The Four Season's" collection).
Although the majority of the marks on "Venus" appear childlike, the chaotic and energetic marks are what make the piece exciting. I think that the uncontrolled marks are what express his feelings towards literature and old mythical stories, almost like a child would express his/her feelings through mood. Like most abstract expressionist's, Twombly is manipulating what he sees in his head in an almost spontaneous manner, yet the aspect that distinguishes his work from others like Jackson Pollock, is the fact that he chooses to use other materials than paint.When looking at the composition of the piece, it appears to be quite empty and open which could be used to convey the idea that there is more to the story; more to the story of Venus. the layout of some of the text in the piece comes across as a list of characters or maybe a timeline of events, further reinforcing the idea that Twombly has taken influence from old style literature.
Throughout Twombly's body of work, the use of paint is evident, however he uses multiple other mediums in order to express his feelings and ideas appropriately. For example, "Venus" is a mixed media composition that combines the use of acrylic, oil pastel and lead pencil.Whilst this variety of mediums just goes to show how much passion and interest is in his work and how inspired he is by his main source of influence, Greek literature, it also implies that he is spontaneous when it comes to his work and open minded to using other mediums, unlike some other abstract expressionists at that time. As he grew as an artist over time, he felt more comfortable to work on a larger scale, which I think improves his work as he is able to be more free with his marks and express his feelings in a much deeper, emotional way; this is something that I am going to be working on.How am I going to use this as influence in my work?
In New York, I bought some letters and postcards that have ben written by people decades ago (as seen in previous blog post). I want to use these old forms of communication as a starting point to my work and create responses of these in the style of Twombly, including composition style and colour palette. I will create multiple experiments before this, making studies from the letters and postcards themselves including font and colour. I have also started to make studies of Cy Twombly's work so that I can begin to fully understand how he works and his techniques. The off white colour palette will be useful when linking my work to the exam question, "Timeworn" as the old letters and postcards have faded in colour.
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