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.
1957
Moves to Rome and meets Tatiana Franchetti
Twombly makes Rome his primary city and there meets the Italian artist Tatiana Franchetti, sister of his patron Baron Giorgio Franchetti. In Italy he turns to large formats and a more literal use of text and numbers, drawing inspiration from poetry, mythology and history.
1959
Marries Tatiana Franchetti
Twombly and Tatiana Franchetti marry at New York City Hall and then buy a palazzo on the Via di Monserrato in Rome.
1964
Leo Castelli exhibition and Donald Judd’s scathing review
The Leo Castelli Gallery shows the nine-panel Discourses on Commodus (1963); the artist and writer Donald Judd pans it, seeing in these paintings nothing but a few drips and splatters and an occasional pencil line.
1964
Invited to the Venice Biennale
Twombly is invited to exhibit at the Venice Biennale; he will be invited twice more, in 1989 and in 2001.
1968
First retrospective in Milwaukee
The first retrospective of Twombly’s work is held in Milwaukee.
