(Lexington, Virginia 1928–2011 Rome)
Untitled (Rome), 1962, signed and dated Cy Twombly Rome 1962, graphite, red and blue ballpoint and wax crayon on thin cardboard, 32 x 46.5 cm, framed (MCC)

The work has been registered by the Cy Twombly Foundation, Rome.

Provenance:
Collection G. Leonardi, Incontri Internazionali d’Arte, Rome – acquired there by the present owner in 1976
Italian Private Collection

After his first journey with Rauschenberg in 1952, the American artist Cy Twombly decided to finally settle in Rome in 1957. Here he was exposed to a blend of historical layers and everyday gestures. After working in New York from 1952 to 1955 on large graffiti, with chalk or white colour on black canvas, reminiscent of abstract expressionism, Twombly, stimulated by the new urban landscape, now endeavoured to infuse them with a story narrating everyday and historical events, drawn directly on the ‘skin’ of the city of Rome. From 1957 onwards, his black surfaces are replaced by ‘walls’ of lime and white colour, on which are unloaded the signs, or stains, of a writing gesture that, in the titles or in the topics, contains a reminder or the memory of history. It represents a further step towards an enigmatic osmosis of different cultural moments, such as American and European art, which integrates the roles of past and present creating a future dimension. Like Kounellis, Twombly is one of the first contemporary artists from abroad who decided to settle in Italy as an international place of stable residence instead of a mere tourist destination.
G. Celant /A. Costantini, Roma-New York 1948-1964,1993