Klu
Dating to a pivotal summer spent at Black Mountain College in 1951, Klu dates to the start of Twombly’s mature practice, as he developed a unique approach to abstraction in the wake of the New York School and the longer legacies of European abstraction. With its densely contrasting bold forms against a flat background, that Twombly would revisit in the last decades of his career, and its resemblance to the silhouette shapes of archaic bronzes from Luristan—Klu anticipates many of Twombly’s enduring interests. Twombly gifted the work to his mentor at Black Mountain College, the artist Robert Motherwell, and it remained in Motherwell’s collection until his death, suggesting not only mutual respect and admiration but also shared artistic proclivities and affinities.
Artwork Details
- Title: Klu
- Artist: Cy Twombly (American, Lexington, Virginia 1928–2011 Rome)
- Date: 1951
- Medium: Oil based house paint and earth on canvas
- Dimensions: 40 × 52 in. (101.6 × 132.1 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Purchase, Bequest of Florene M. Schoenborn (by exchange) and Rogers Fund Gifts, 2024
- Object Number: 2024.546
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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Multiple artists/makers
1952
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1967–75
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1968
Multiple artists/makers
1967–75
Multiple artists/makers
1967–75
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