Untitled (Gaeta)
Artwork FactoryDescription
In layers, Cy Twombly has applied oil paint, wax crayon, and handwritten text to this three-piece wooden support. Four dark purple shapes, reminiscent of floating boats, come to the fore. But there is no horizon or clearly defined landscape. Rather, the image consists of overlapping strokes, drops, and lines.
Associated modules
look closely
Which senses are addressed by the image?
With gentle brush strokes and translucent blue tones, the movement of water is hinted at. Melting boats are found on top of it. Is sunlight glittering on the surface of the water or is there a strong swell?
Many of Cy Twombly’s paintings have their place of origin in their name. In the 1990s, a friend showed him the Italian coastal town of Gaeta. Cy was fascinated by the idyll and from then on spent several months a year in Gaeta. Surrounded by pines and palm trees, with the sound of the waves in his ears and with a sea view from his studio, he created paintings inspired by the Mediterranean region.
Talk about it
The Mediterranean Sea, its history and its way of life had an enormous attraction for Cy Twombly. What does your dream landscape look like?
Enigmatic sequences of letters and words in illegible writing. What can be deciphered? “Sea”? “Gaeta”? With the word “Sais,” Cy Twombly takes us back to ancient Egypt. Sais is considered the burial place of Osiris, the Egyptian god of the afterlife. And the boats are not only a reminder of the sea, but also symbols of the passage from life to death.
Delve deeper
"I am a Mediterranean painter."
Cy Twombly
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Source
![Arthur Jafa, Monster (2018), UAB \](https://www.museum-brandhorst.de/imgs/AJ-038a-e1557429056200-1280x1670.jpg?x82136 "Arthur Jafa, Monster (2018), UAB \")
