Cy Twombly

James Cohan Gallery, New York
Christie's, New York, May 12, 2004, lot 192
Acquired by the present owner from the above sale

This work is in very good condition overall. There are a few minor and unobtrusive dust accretions on the surface of the work. All surface inconsistencies appear inherent to the artist's working method. Additionally, there is evidence of minor wear at the edges and as the edges are lifting slightly. The left and right edges of the sheet are deckled. The work is hinged verso to the matte at the four corners. Framed under Plexiglas. Please note that this work has been requested to be viewed in person by the Catalogue Raisonné of Cy Twombly in Rome after the sale. The department would be happy to assist prospective buyers with shipping and logistical arrangements.
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.

Prior to his fortuitous move to Rome in 1957, Cy Twombly's style evolved around the use of a gestural, spontaneous line, incised into the oil surface, using various methods and tools. Although Twombly was long fascinated by weathered and ruined monuments, or, in is own words, for the "eroded and ancient surfaces of time," (artist's 1956 statement from a grant application quoted in Exh. Cat., Cy Twombly: a Retrospective, New York, Museum of Modern Art, 1994, p. 61), it would be his immersion in the study of Roman antiquity and the fascination of the objects in his new environment that would afford him with a new appreciation for ornate patterns and dead language. In this sense, with the new influence and source of inspiration, Twombly's works became as much concerned with the loss of meaning as with creating it, and their very hermeticism became their eloquence.

In 14 Papers, executed in 1983, Twombly has split his composition horizontally, with a sense of divine proportion. The expanse of gouache and watercolor that takes up the majority of the picture plane is an all but impossible color. Twombly, with his typical taste for uncanny optics, superimposes greens and reds, somehow creating not a muddy color, but a magical one: at once warm and cool. The bottom edge, left white – though scrawled in red with his characteristically illegible script – seems almost to vie with the large expanse of saturated paint above it for the viewer's attention. The two parts, in a sort of symbiotic competition, ultimately create a composition of unprecedented concordance. Robert Motherwell recognized that Twombly's painting process was "orgiastic. ...Yet the art in his painting is rational, often surprisingly simply symmetrical, and invariably harmonious." (Exh. Cat., New York, Sperone Westwater, Cy Twombly: Paintings and Sculptures 1951-1953, 1989, n.p.).