Cy Twombly's Sperlonga Drawings on View at Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris

The Galerie Karsten Greve in Paris is presenting 'Cy Twombly. Sperlonga – 1959' from September 12 to November 10, 2026, featuring a rare group of approximately thirty works on paper created during the artist's transformative summer in Sperlonga, Italy, in 1959. This exhibition isolates a pivotal moment in Twombly's career, following his permanent move to Italy. The Sperlonga Drawings reflect the intense Mediterranean light, which Twombly described as 'white for three quarters of the time,' leading to expansive empty spaces and reduced figurative elements. The historical stratification of Sperlonga, including the nearby Villa of Emperor Tiberius, where the famous sculptural group inspired by the Odyssey was discovered in 1957, provided direct contact with mythology that would permeate his later work. The drawings do not depict recognizable landscapes but use sparse marks, light color fields, numbers, circles, and graphic signs evoking maps or constellations. Art historian Kirk Varnedoe, in the 1994 Museum of Modern Art retrospective, identified these works as opening a 'specifically landscape-like space' and a turning point in Twombly's career. The exhibition is curated by Caterina Angelucci and takes place at 5 Rue Debelleyme, 75003 Paris, France.