Cy Twombly, Allusions, Bay of Naples (from the collection of Donald Baechler), 1975

Cy Twombly

Allusions, Bay of Naples (from the collection of Donald Baechler), 1975

Color offset lithograph and photo lithograph on wove paper

Signed and numbered 56/80 in ink on the front, bears publishers' blind stamp

27 × 19 inches

Unframed

Hand signed and numbered 56/80 on the front
Color offset lithograph and photo lithograph on wove paper
Published by Edizioni Lucio Amelio, Galeria Lucio Amelio, Naples, with blind stamp
Provenance: Acquired from the collection of Donald Baechler

The present work is a portrait of Twombly in a thick double-breasted topcoat and a tight Beuys-esque hat, posing contrapposto and gazing out across the Bay of Naples from the Villa Comunale, while leaning on the heel of a copy of an ancient statue of Castor and Pollux. This image shows the sun casting a shadow of a figure onto the statue’s base, presumably revealing the photographer – who was is assumed to be Lucio Amelio himself, the Neapolitan avantgarde art dealer in whose gallery Twombly staged back-to-back shows in the winter of 1974-75.
This print served as the exhibition advertisement for the second show, “Allusions (Bay of Napoli),” of works on paper referencing Orpheus, Dionysus and Narcissus. The artist signed and numbered 80 examples, which each bear the Edizioni Lucio Amelio blind stamp.