Ferragosto III 1961

Cy Twombly made 'Ferragosto III' with paint, and who knows what else, right? Because you can imagine him just grabbing whatever was lying around. Look at those strokes of pink, red, white, and brown… you can almost feel the movement of his hand. It's like he’s wrestling with the paint, trying to get it to do what he wants, but also letting it surprise him. I can see the splatters, the drips, the messy lines. I can just feel the energy, the tension, the joy… I bet he was listening to opera while he was making this. I can see how it all kind of exploded onto the canvas. And that red streak near the bottom left? That feels so good! You know, painters are always looking at each other's work, stealing ideas, responding to each other. Twombly's definitely in conversation with the Abstract Expressionists, but he's doing his own thing, making something new and strange. Like you know, that’s what it's all about, right?