A large untitled black canvas, layered with illegible script-like white lines sold for over £19 million in auction at Christie’s this year. The artist, Cy Twombly (1928 – 2011) emerged in New York in the mid fifties as a prominent figure among a significant group of artists that included Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. Twombly created abstract work in response to a range of subjects including classical history, literature, and the memory of experience. His asks us to consider what a work feels like as much as what it looks like.
Interestingly Twombly had previously worked as a cryptographer decrypting military code and we can trace this influence in his work with the incorporation of handwriting and illegible script as fragmented written lines emerge, almost forming words and then disappear.
Twombly inspired countless emerging artists and was described as ‘the original graffiti artist’ with Michel Basquiat known to have worked in his studio with a Twombly art book open for reference. Countless artists have been inspired by his poetic, gestural use of line.
I often think of Twombly when viewing Stephen Todd’s work and Stephen recently recalled that “The two most expensive books I have ever bought are Twombly art books. I bought them at the Liverpool Tate when the TurnerMonetTwombly show was on.”
We can clearly trace Twombly’s influence in Todd’s work – an experimental and visceral mark maker, Todd paints poetic scenes of historical or personal meaning, often incorporating written thoughts and poetry into the paint, which likewise emerge and then trail away.
Todd is one of our best selling artists and offers a remarkable entry point into collecting with work available in the low hundreds.
View all work available by Stephen Todd here
Iphigenia (detail) by Stephen Todd, £220
CY TWOMBLY (1928-2011)UNTITLED (NEW YORK CITY)
Price Realized
£19,682,500
image from Christie’s