Film brings life, wider audience, better understanding to Cy Twombly

Anna Lopacinski, Contributing Writer

People gathered in the Leslie Cheek Theater on Oct. 8 for a special screening of the documentary “Cy Dear,” paired alongside the ongoing “Cy Twombly, Morocco 1952/1953” exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

“Cy Dear” is a film that tells the story of the life and work of Cy Twombly, according to Amy Peck, VMFA senior public relations manager. 

Twombly is an abstract expressionist artist who is best known for his gestural vocabulary in paintings and drawings, in which each line and color is infused with energy, spirituality and meaning, according to Peck. Twombly’s work extends from paintings to sculptures, to prints and photographs.

The film, directed by Andrea Bettinetti, takes viewers from Lexington, Virginia — Twombly’s birthplace — to his second home Gaeta, Italy, and passes through Paris, Munich, New York and Houston, according to Peck.

“American painter, sculptor and photographer Cy Twombly is the most important Virginia artist of the 20th century,” said Jeffery Allison, VMFA’s director of statewide programs and exhibitions and Paul Mellon Collection educator. 

Allison gave the opening remarks for the documentary’s showing, discussing the significance of the relationship between Twombly and the VMFA. 

Twombly received two fellowships from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and used them to travel Europe and North Africa where he worked on his art, according to Allison. These travels influenced Twombly’s work for the rest of his life.

While Twombly was on these travels, he created some of his early works, such as his “North African Sketchbook,” “Volubilis” and “Ouarzazate,” which are on display at the exhibition alongside pages from his sketchbooks and photographs he took on his travels, according to Allison.

The exhibition and the documentary provide visitors with a better understanding of Cy Twombly’s importance in the art world and VMFA’s role in his artistic development, Allison said.  

“The film certainly brings a wider audience,” said Barbara Rothermel, event attendee and recently retired director of the Daura Museum of Art at the University of Lynchburg.

Rothermel spent years in her career studying art and has a very strong connection, as well as knowledge, to Twombly and his work, but still thinks seeing the documentary gave her an important insight into the work and the life of Cy Twombly, she said. 

Even for people who know Twombly’s work, the documentary provides a larger context around him and his art because it includes people who knew him and how others reacted to and researched his work, according to Rothermel. 

“The film is a resource for not only information but also gives life to the legacy of Cy Twombly and his art,” Rothermel said.

The “Cy Twombly, Morocco 1952/1953” exhibition will continue to be shown at the VMFA until Jan. 7. Admission to this exhibition is free to the public.