Cy Twombly

Estimate

300,000 - 400,000 USD

bidding is closed

Description

Cy Twombly
Untitled
signed and dated June 71 on the reverse
oil, pencil, oilstick and paper collage on paper mounted on card
33 1/2 by 27 1/2 in. 85 by 70 cm.
Executed in 1971, this work will be included in the forthcoming Catalogue Raisonné of Cy Twombly - Works on Paper prepared by Nicola del Roscio.

Provenance

Galleria del Naviglio, Milan
Private Collection, Rome
Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London
Riccardo Rizziero Di Sabatino, Italy
Acquired by the present owner from the above in 1999

Exhibited

Naples, Modern Art Agency, Cy Twombly: Ramifications, November 1972

Condition

This work is in very good condition overall. There is evidence of staple holes in each of the four corner edges presumably where the work was previously mounted during execution. There is evidence of faint wear to the extreme edges. The heavy paper sheet is hinged to a foamcore board at the top two corner edges and bottom corner edges verso. This work is floating under Plexiglas in a white wood frame.
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.

Catalogue Note

A line – any line inscribed on a sheet on paper – is a denial of the importance of the body, the body and its flesh, the body and its humors. The line gives access neither to skin nor to membranes laden with mucous. It speaks of the body insofar as it scratches and grates (one might even go so far as to speak of tickling.) Line causes a displacement in art; no longer concerned with the object of desire (the lovely body sculpted in the marble) it turns its attention to the subject of that desire. Line, no matter how supple, light or uncertain, always implies a force, a direction. It is "energon," work, and it displays the traces of its pulsation and self-consumption. Line is action become visible – Roland Barthes, Paris, 1976, in Yvon Lambert, Catalogue Raissonné des oeuvres sur papier de Cy Twombly, Milan 1979