Cy Twombly: Making Past Present

This exhibition at the Getty Center in Los Angeles (until 30 October) looks at how the artist’s interest in the ancient cultures of Greece and Rome influenced many of his best-known abstract works. With paintings, drawings, sculptures and photographs, the exhibition focuses on specific periods in the artist’s life – his move to Italy in 1959 and subsequent travels across Europe and Central Asia – to examine how his taste in antiquities evolved over the years. Evidence of his burgeoning interest can be found in the names and phrases that appear in many of Twombly’s paintings; highlights include the oil paintings Venus (1975) and Apollo (1975), both of which feature the names of the Roman gods scrawled across the canvas. The exhibition also displays marble and bronze objects from the artist’s personal collections, including a bust of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius (c. 161–80). Find out more on the Getty Center’s website.

Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary here

Venus (1975), Cy Twombly. Photo: Mimmo Capone; courtesy Archives Fondazione Nicola Del Roscio; © Cy Twombly Foundation

Leda and the Swan (1962), Cy Twombly. Photo: © Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA/Art Resource, NY; courtesy Museum of Modern Art, New York; © Cy Twombly Foundation

Catullus (1962), Cy Twombly. Photo: Archives Nicola Del Roscio; courtesy RIRA Collection, Cologna; © Cy Twombly Foundation