Cy Twombley: Selected Examples

Originally published Sunday, March 1 2009 and reblogged in honor of the artist’s death today at 83.

A Progression Into Chaos







Beautiful images for your Sunday morning. Twombly’s work is something I never tire of, even if seeing these images on a screen really takes away from their painterly quality and large size. Cy Twombly is one of my favorite contemporary artists, and if they would bring Le Quattro Stagione, his quartet of paintings, back to the atrium of MoMA, I would be quite happy.

Discover the Lukhang Murals at the Rubin Museum of Art

Potola Palace, Lhasa, Tibet

Hidden in the Potola Palace is the secret Lukhang Temple. Amazingly preserved, this temple is a unique expression of Tantric Buddhist art historically available only to the Dalai Lama and his retinue for deep meditation and closed off to the public. The current Dalai Lama has lifted the silk curtains so to speak, and in addition to allowing visitors has allowed the detailed wall murals to be photographed. Currently at the Rubin Museum of Art you can see the Lukhang Murals even better than you can in the actual temple thanks to new photographic methods by Thomas Laird and Clint Clemens.

A separate room at the museum displays life-size, high resolution pigment prints placed similarly to how they appear in the walls of the temple itself, and handily for me are accompanied by audio recordings that detail at least some of what is going on in these complex scenes. The 18th c. wall paintings illustrate the Dalai Lama’s path to enlightenment and are unusual because these mystical teachings of Tantric Buddhism tend to be passed by whisper rather than openly expressed. 

Detail of East wall showing two Mahasiddha
They are also remarkable for their color and complexity, and the sense of order maintained despite the activity of all the tiny figures. While the recording only touch upon the surface of what is going on in each panel, nonetheless it provides a great and enticing background. With such expressive figures and scenes, I found my imagination going into overdrive as I examined them, and I had to promise myself I would come back for a second look.
 

While I imagine these setting isn’t quite as awe-inspiring as ascending by wooden ladder to this hidden secret in the Dalai Lama’s palace in Tibet, it’s certainly more accessible. 

More information here: 
http://hem.bredband.net/ritnyb/lukhang.html
http://www.asianart.com/articles/baker/index.htmll

“Why do we want these works to turn out to be by Velázquez and Michelangelo? After all, the art is the same either way.”

The Wine of St. Martin’s Day, a previously ignored painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
 

“In the end we want another celebrity attribution like this one because we want to get things straight. History tries to make sense out of chaos, toward which the world inevitably inclines. Art historians create hierarchies, categories and movements; they attribute causes and effects to conjure an appearance of logic. Attributing a picture to a household deity like Bruegel or Michelangelo affirms our sense of control, our ability to get a grip on our affairs, at least for the moment. We take comfort in mooring some grimy, forgotten canvas, another example of life’s flotsam and, implicitly, of our own fate, to one of the pillars of art history.” – Via the NYTimes

Maybe that’s the reason; we’re so excited by the discovery of a masterpiece we forget we never thought it was great before. Maybe its the thrill of discovery. But I think we could all just be a tad foolish.