At Black Mountain College near Asheville, Twombly studies with Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell and Ben Shahn and meets John Cage; the poet Charles Olson, the college’s rector, has a great influence on him.
1952
Travels to North Africa and Europe with Rauschenberg
A grant from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts enables Twombly to travel to North Africa, Spain, Italy and France; Robert Rauschenberg accompanies him on the journey.
1953–1954
Serves in the US Army as a cryptographer
After his return from Europe Twombly serves in the US Army as a cryptographer in Washington, D.C., and often travels to New York on leave; the work with ciphers will leave a distinct mark on his artistic style.
1953–1957
Shows at the Stable Gallery
From 1953 to 1957 Twombly’s work is shown at the Stable Gallery; he then moves to the Leo Castelli Gallery and later exhibits with the Gagosian Gallery.
1955–1959
New York: a shared studio with Rauschenberg and Johns’s circle
From 1955 to 1959 Twombly works in New York, shares a studio with Rauschenberg and becomes a prominent figure in a group of artists that includes Jasper Johns. Exposure to the emerging New York School purges the figurative aspects from his work, and a fascination with tribal art leads him to gestural drawing — thin white lines on a dark canvas that seem scratched into the surface.
