Cy Twombly: Sculpture at the Chicago Museum of Art

I tend to think of Cy Twombly more as a painter than a sculptor, although the artist has created sculptures throughout his career, as can be seen in this intimate exhibition at the Art Institute. Twombly’s sculptures tend to be composed of everyday found objects, put on a pedestal, and unified by a coat of white paint. This formalizes the objects as works of art, and gives them a timeless feel that is ethereal even while it is rough and tough. While the spare constructions are evocative of archaic relics, the presentation is absolutely modern. Their names of times and places suggest journal entries, sculptures of memories.

Untitled, Bassano in Teverina, 1989
Wood, plaster, nails, traces of red and blue paint, glue, and white paint

Untitled, New York, 1955
Wood, cloth, nails, and house paint

Untitled, Lexington, 1948
Wood, porcelain and metal knobs, cloth, and house paint

The Book is the Art


A great collection of art book images over at BibliOdyssey is inspiring. Pulled from the Art Institute of Chicago’s Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection, the archive is searchable by medium, binding, or category. The example below is a Wizard of Oz pop up book. I never did do the pop up book I had wanted to, but some of the books in this collection are reviving that desire.


The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Robert Sabuda