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Along with trips to Turkey, Greece, USA, Egypt, and the Seychelles, the 1980s are defined by Twombly´s growing weariness of life in Rome and his escapes to Porto Ercole and Gaeta, where, in the 1990s, he´ll establish a secluded new home and studio that will be his main residence for the rest of his life. Twombly experiments with applying the paint with bare fingers. His new environment inspires him to works such as Scenes From an Ideal Marriage. His love for the Sufi poems of Jalal al-Din Rumi yields a series of drawings dedicated to the Persian poet; ancient Greek poet Archilochos and Rainer Maria Rilke are sources for major works based on lines from their poems. Places, landscapes, and plants become important subjects in a decade that sees Twombly´s reputation turn into worldwide fame. In his essay Nicola Del Roscio describes the events, dispositions, and influences of this significant decade in the life and work of Cy Twombly.

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Nicola Del Roscio, born in Rome in 1944, was Twombly´s long-time assistant. The editor of the present Catalogue Raisonné, he is president of the Cy Twombly Foundation (New York/Rome) and the Fondazione Nicola Del Roscio (Gaeta).

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