Rediscovering Tatia Franchetti Twombly: The Photographer Behind Cy Twombly

A new exhibition at Spazio Treccani Arte in Rome, 'Stella Honey,' curated by Isabella Tucci, brings to light the photographic and painterly work of Luisa Tatiana Franchetti (1924–2010), known as Tatia Franchetti Twombly. Born into an aristocratic Italian family, she was the sister of collector Giorgio Franchetti. She began painting as a girl and took up photography in her early twenties. After WWII, she traveled to the US (Maine, Florida, Virginia), painting portraits of Kennedy family members. In 1957, she met American painter Cy Twombly, supported by her brother; they married in New York in 1959. Twombly called her 'Stella Honey.' Her photographs capture their travels through the Middle East, Greece, Egypt, and Mexico, often featuring Twombly amid classical ruins. She also documented domestic interiors in Rome and family members. Her paintings have a fairy-tale quality, reminiscent of Arnold Böcklin. The works were discovered by her granddaughter Maia in an attic trunk two years ago, revealing an intimate postwar Italian perspective.