This volume by Richard Leeman includes the following chapters: “I: Twombly et l'École de New York,” “II: Au Sujet d’un Départ,” “III: Fiasco,” “IV: Tableaux Noirs: Le Retour à l’École de Twombly,” “V: Le Dessin (1968­–1976),” “VI: Le ‘Retour’ de la Peinture,” and “VII: ‘Cy Twombly Moment.’” An English language edition entitled Cy Twombly and the American Critics, 1951–1995 is also available via Gagosian Gallery.

The first chapter addresses Twombly’s relationship to Abstract Expressionism and Expressionism; mentorship by and training with Robert Motherwell; Twombly and Rauschenberg’s joint exhibition at the Stable Gallery; and Twombly’s solo exhibition at the Stable Gallery alongside Jackson Pollock’s concurrent exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Chapter two addresses the artist’s relocation to Italy; his Virginian and Mediterranean mythos; the differing reception of Twombly’s practice in Europe and the United States; and related activity in New York during this period. Chapter three addresses Rauschenberg’s 1964 Venice Biennale exhibition and Twombly’s notorious exhibition of Nine Discourses on Commodus (1963) at Leo Castelli Gallery, New York in the same year. Chapter four addresses Twombly’s so-called “blackboard paintings” in relationship to Minimalism and Postminimalism. Chapter five continues with Twombly’s related Letters of Resignation (1959–1967) and Rauschenberg and Twombly’s joint exhibition at Leo Castelli Gallery in 1974. Chapter five turns to Twombly’s reception of Fifty Days at Iliam (1978) and of his 1979 retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The volume concludes with consideration of shifting attitudes towards Twombly’s practice amongst American critics, coincident with increased European and market recognition.

Scholars interested in this volume may also consult Richard Leeman’s earlier and more comprehensive book, Cy Twombly: A Monograph (2005); this text was originally published in French as Cy Twombly: peindre, dessiner, écrire. Scholars may also wish to consult other major catalogues and monographs, such as: Mary Jacobus’s Reading Cy Twombly: Poetry in Paint (2016); Thierry Greub, Inscriptions (2022); Cy Twombly: A Retrospective, ed. Kirk Varnedoe (1994); Cy Twombly: Œuvres sur papier 1973–1977, Musée de Grenoble (2023); Twombly and Poussin: Arcadian Painters, ed. Nicholas Cullinan (2011); Cy Twombly: Cycles and Seasons, ed. Nicholas Serota (2008); and Cy Twombly: Making Past Present, eds. Christine Kondoleon and Kate Nesin (2020).

(Publication description by Jamie Danis)

Cy Twombly et la critique américaine 1951 - 1995. Histoire d’une réception. By Richard Leeman. Published by Les Editions du Regard, Paris. 2022. 280 pages. French edition.