Cy Twombly

Leo Castelli Gallery, New York
Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles
Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Rowan, Pasadena
Private Collection, New York 
Sotheby's, New York, 16 May 2001, Lot 143
Private Collection, Berlin (acquired from the above sale)
James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles
Curt Marcus Gallery, New York
Private Collection
Christie's, London, 21 June 2007, Lot 390
Acquired from the above sale by the present owner

New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, Works of Robert Rauschenberg and Cy Twombly, May 1974
Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Schrift. Zeichen. Geste. Carlfriedrich Claus im Kontext von Klee bis Pollock, July - October 2004, p. 345, illustrated in color

Yvon Lambert, Ed., Cy Twombly, Catalogue Raisonné des Oeuvres sur Papier de Cy Twombly, Volume VI, 1973-1979, Milan 1979, cat. no. 95, p. 107, illustrated
Nicola Del Roscio, Cy Twombly Drawings: Catalogue Raisonné, Vol. 6, 1972-1979, New York 2016, cat. no. 119, p. 111, illustrated in color

This work is in very good condition overall. The lateral edges of the sheet are deckled and there is very light evidence of time-staining to the extreme edges of the sheet. There are two artist's pinholes in each of the upper corners and one artist's pinhole in the lower corners. The collaged elements are all intact. The sheet is hinged verso intermittently along the top edge. Framed under Plexiglas.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

"Collage, which engaged Twombly briefly in 1959 and indirectly informed the shallow drawn planes found in other works, allies him to the dadaists and their descendants—Rauschenberg and Johns...Reading an ancient history book—literature his constant muse—sparked a drawing of the barge of Sesostris, a legendary journey to the sun or the phrase 'love's infinite causes' enter Twombly's system. The lotus symbol of the universe becomes the dominant element in a 1974 sequence of collages composed of clusters of pencil and oil base crayon line as well as sheets and torn fragments of graph paper."

Suzanne Delehanty, "The Alchemy of Mind and Hand," in Nicola Del Roscio, Ed., Writings on Cy Twombly, Berlin 2001, pp. 71-72