Untitled (Rome [Wall]) (1961) ([1961]) by Cy TwonblyGalleria Civica di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Torino
Cy Twombly
Edwin Parker 'Cy' Twombly Jr. was an American painter, sculptor, and photographer working in the wake of abstract expressionism. He was born in 1928 in Lexington, Virginia, and died aged 83 in Rome, Italy.
Twombly is best known for his large-scale paintings, distinguished by being scrawled with names, words, and poems drawn from across literary and artistic history. In particular, those of the classical Greece and ancient Rome.
Rome (The Wall), 1961
This painting was made in 1961 as a tribute to the city he knew so well. The white ground of the painting recalls the ubiquitous whitewashed plaster of the Mediterranean and brings to mind thoughts of classical elegance.
While the title suggests that the large canvas has actually become a wall of the ancient city, complete with flaking render, dirt and stains, accumulated over the ages.
Amongst the graffiti and sgraffito you can find subtle allusions to the grand architecture of Rome. A staircase emerges from the scratches…
… and an array of vertical lines form the faintest trace of a classical fluted column topped by a smudged Doric capital.
This evocative painting is one of a series painted by Twombly, that have come to be described as representing 'romantic symbolism' - combining personal memories and shared stories.
Entropia: Construction (2005) by Julie MehretuThe Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Julie Mehretu
Like Twombly, Julie Mehretu is a American painter known for her detailed, large-scale images. These works are largely abstract, but often feature writing, freehand drawing, and features reminiscent of maps and architectural diagrams.
Unlike Twombly, Mehretu often works with prints. Mehretu also links her work more closely to social and economic histories, than classical mythology. This 2005 work, Entropia: Construction, is one such artwork.
Take a close look at the artwork, and see what you can find…
Parts of the image appear to represent landscapes as seen in real life. A curl of pencil strokes suggest a billowing cloud above a horizon of rolling hills.
Lines burst from a cloud: the early morning sun, or a man-made explosion?
The diagrammatic elevation of a modernist glass tower appears to rise out and above the furious image. Halo rings emanate from the structure, encircling the regular grid.
This furious, tumultuous image can't seem to settle on either spontaneity or regularity. The organic and engineered are intertwined in Mehretu's work.
This is far from the ordered symmetry of classical architecture, and unlike Twombly's painting above, it doesn't attempt to replicate a real scene or object, but it has its own, distinct idea of beauty and structure.
Stadia II (2004) by Julie MehretuCarnegie Museum of Art
If you enjoyed Julie Mehretu's Entropia: Construction, then why not take a look at her other paintings, including Stadia II, which shows a more futuristic side to Mehretu's work.
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