How to Spot a Painting by Cy Twombly
Cy Twombly is one of the most famous and most radical contemporary painters, having developed a distinctive style, the signature of which is the scrawl--a sort of cursive writing that occasionally spells out actual words but more often looks like a childish exercise in graphic repetition. As such, Twombly's paintings are easy to recognize. Unlike many contemporary artists who tend to switch styles all the time, Twombly, who was born in 1928, has stayed the same throughout most of his career. It is this resilience that so many art critics admire and the reason why he has so many fans outside the art world, as well.
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Instructions
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Observe the size of the painting. Twombly usually works on very large canvases. Only on rare occasions will you see a small painting by Twombly.
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Determine whether the work is abstract or figurative. If it is figurative, then you know it's not a Cy Twombly painting.
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Look for scrawls that look like cursive handwriting and thick splotches of paint applied in a hectic, chaotic style.
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Evaluate the media employed. In addition to oil paints, are there also pencil or crayon scrawls on the painting? If so, the chances are good that it is a work by Cy Twombly.
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Consider where the work is being exhibited. Twombly's main art dealer is Gagosian Gallery, which has branches in New York, London, Rome, Athens and Beverly Hills, California. His work also is among the permanent collections of several museums, including the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
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