Quattro stagioni I. Inverno 1994

Curator: Cy Twombly's "Quattro stagioni I. Inverno," completed in 1994, immediately strikes one as a study in contrasts. The layers of acrylic and oil paint mixed with textile remnants build a compelling surface, currently held in the collection of MoMA. What's your initial reaction? Editor: A sense of starkness, certainly. The high key values, that dominant white…it feels like the aftermath of something. A bleached landscape, perhaps reflecting the desolation of winter alluded to in the work's title. The scrawled marks suggest pentimento, a search for form within chaos. Curator: Exactly! And consider the symbolic weight of the colors chosen. The sparing use of yellow suggests a lingering memory of sun, struggling against the encroaching darkness represented by the black impasto strokes. Editor: I find it fascinating how Twombly evokes winter through such primal symbols, like raw brushstrokes echoing leafless branches or frozen earth. Note also how the written word merges into the painting. Phrases like, is that "...out of sleep" imply awakening which creates more depth of associations, not only of death and deprivation. Curator: These linguistic fragments, typical of Twombly's work, introduce an element of narrative, hinting at myths and poetic allusions buried within the layers of paint. It moves beyond the literal representation of winter to encompass something more profound about the cyclical nature of life and death. I also notice the interplay between those thick gestural marks versus delicate drips, suggesting both violence and fragility, a sort of brutal beauty. Editor: Indeed. The surface itself acts as a palimpsest, revealing the accumulation of time and the continuous overwriting of experience. There is evidence of reworking of materials creating depth. It underscores winter's metaphorical function as a season of contemplation and dormancy, where past experiences are examined beneath a frozen surface, with a memory of past times in the color. Curator: And within the composition, the large black form acts as the grounding presence, contrasting with the white background, establishing a balance between action and space which allows an introspective assessment and a beautiful rendering. Editor: Yes, a striking meditation. It reveals the evocative power within what at first appears to be impulsive scribbles. What a marvelous way to contemplate visual imagery that contains a variety of interpretations!