Synopses & Reviews
Cy Twombly (1928and#150;2011) is widely acknowledged as one of the postwar periodand#8217;s most influential American artists, yet his sculptures are little known. From 1946 onward, he made hundreds of rarely exhibited found-object assemblages, often painted or plastered over with diverse coatings of white. Across decades, Twombly thus developed a singular, strikingly consistent body of work, despite the shifting status of sculpture during his lifetime.
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In this revelatory monograph, Kate Nesin first establishes, then evaluates the artistand#8217;s long engagement with the historical and contemporary limits of sculpture, both as medium and as word. While others have described Twomblyand#8217;s three-dimensional works as timeless, transcendent, and poetic, Nesin complicates our sense of their so-called poetry, focusing on the prosaic, conspicuously material operations of these sculptural and#147;things,and#8221; and emphasizing the inherent difficulties as well as possibilities of the language used to characterize them. Through close readings of individual works and in-depth analyses of certain guiding concerns, such as surface, naming, gaps, and repetitions, she illuminates Twombly's remarkable sculptural practice.and#160;
Review
and#8220;With this deeper understanding of Twomblyand#8217;s sculptures and casts, his place in the pantheon of and#8220;artistsand#8217; artistsand#8221; grows more secure.and#8221;and#8212;Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
Though famous for his paintings, the influential postwar American artist Cy Twombly produced a remarkable body of little-known sculpture, and this monograph provides a comprehensive and revelatory assessment of these singular works.and#160;
About the Author
Kate Nesin is associate curator of contemporary art at the Art Institute of Chicago.