Saturday, May 16th, marked the inaugural opening of the Modern Wing, but it also premiered the exhibition, "Cy Twombly: The Natural World, Selected Works 2000-2007".  Located in the new Modern Wing, in the Abbott Galleries  off of Griffin Court, the exhibition features over 30 works by the artist.  The collection of work showcases more recent developments by the artist over the past decade.  The body of work is monumental in size and meaning, a fitting exhibition for Renzo Piano's profound space.

Cy Twombly. Untitled, 2003. Oil on canvas, 84 3/4 x 104 1/2 in. (215.3 x 265.4 cm) Glenstone, © Cy Twombly. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery

Born in 1928 in Lexington, Virginia, Cy Twombly (Edwin Parker Twombly Jr.) showed a sense of creativity and penchant for artistic ways at a young age.  After attending the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston as well as Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Twombly went on to study at the Art Students' League in New York and then studied under Robert Motherwell and Franz Kline at Black Mountain College near Asheville, North Carolina.  It was during this time that Twombly found himself among the emerging movement of Post-Abstract Expressionist painters.  Twombly then set off for Europe, finally settling in Rome in the late 1950s.  To this day, the artist divides his time between Virginia and Italy.  To say that the artist is influenced by locale is an understatement.  This is really the point of difference in comparing his work to fellow artists and friends, Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns.  His narrative is ambiguous, but the importance of environment and tradition are evident throughout his work.

(Below: Cy Twombly. Untitled, 2001. Acrylic, wax crayon, pencil and collage,

48 3/4 x 35 in. (124 x 89 cm) Collection of the artist,

© Cy Twombly. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery.)

"The Natural World," is solely on view at the Art Institute and shows that even late in his career, Twombly's work is full of expression and vitality.  The layout of the show is clear and attentive, illustrating the artist's expertise with medium and color.  The range of works on display includes acrylic works with mixed-media, works on paper, sculptures of plaster and wood, photographs,  canvases representing various series and multi-panel paintings.  The thematic groupings deal with landscape, light, flora and seascape: all elements of the natural world.  Drips, scrawling gestures, layers of collage and paint envelop the work seen in the exhibition.  Twombly's palette of purple, orange, red, green, brown and blue gives life to the minimal exhibition rooms.  Twombly's sculptural work compliments and continues the movement of the show leading the viewer through the space.  Stacked boxes of plaster and wood are a collaboration of media, but remain natural and organic.  Photographs that bridge the first and second parts of the galleries showcase the artist's range and ability.  The larger canvases from the series Winter (2004) or Peony Blossom (2006-2007) demonstrate his use of literature and narrative despite the indistinct compositions.  The final room of the exhibition houses three, multi-panel paintings from the series Notes from Salalah (2005-2007).  These larger-than-life creations are reminiscent of his "blackboard paintings" however, they present the artist's further developments in style and concept.  These works exhibit the exaggerated influences of writing and calligraphy, but still remind the viewer of environment and space.  The deep greens of the background, extreme bleeds of the white and undulating waves of line can only suggest the idea of landscape (see below).

Cy Twombly. Note II, 2005-2007. Acrylic on wood panel, 96 x 144 in. (243.8 x 365.8 cm) The Steven and Alexandra Cohen Collection, © Cy Twombly. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery.

A statement from James Rondeau, the Frances and Thomas Dittmer Chair of the Department of Contemporary Art, and curator of the exhibition, states that, "There could not be a more fitting artist to showcase for the opening of the Modern Wing, Cy Twombly's decades of pushing the limits of gesture-through inscriptions and marks, the inclusion of language, and bold, immediate color-bring us from the expressionism of mid-century to its present-day manifestation. The evolution of his style mirrors the evolution of painting itself over the past fifty years. And the Modern Wing is the perfect setting for his works based in and about nature. Visibility, light, and the consciousness of one's surroundings are both the lessons of Twombly's mature work and the experience we hope to create in the Modern Wing galleries."

"Cy Twombly: The Natural World, Selected Works 2000-2007" is on view through September 13, 2009.  For more information about hours, events and lectures relating to the exhibition, visit www.artic.edu/aic/collections/exhibitions/CyTwombly/index.

(Above: Cy Twombly. Untitled, Lexington, 2002. Wood, string and fabric strip, plaster, synthetic resin paint

in white, light gray, light ocher tones and black, traces of yellow, green and red tones,

77 1/2 x 27 3/4 x 19 1/4 in. (197 x 70.4 x 49.2 cm) Collection of the artist © Cy Twombly.

Courtesy Pinakothek, Munich and Schirmer/Mosel, Munich. Photographed by Jochen Littkemann.)

--Robyn Farrell Roulo