Cy Twombly's Orpheus series, created between 1968 and 1979, stands as a significant exploration of the mythic figure of Orpheus, melding historical, poetic, and personal narratives into a deeply textured body of work. Twombly, a painter known for his gestural vocabulary where lines and colors are charged with meaning, engaged with the Orpheus myth in a manner that is both intimate and epic. The Orpheus series includes notable pieces such as "Veil of Orpheus" (1968) and "Orpheus" (1979), showcasing Twombly's use of materials such as oil-based house paint, wax crayon, and graphite pencil on canvas (Gagosian).
Orpheus, the legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth, inspired Twombly not only through his story's dramatic narrative but also through its deeper connections to creativity, loss, and the transformative power of art. Twombly's engagement with Orpheus is partly inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke's "Sonnets to Orpheus," a cycle of fifty-five sonnets that delve into the mythological figure's capacity to bridge the world of the living and the dead through his music and grief. This thematic exploration resonates with Twombly's broader interest in the intersections of mythology, history, and personal expression (Gagosian).
In the Orpheus series, Twombly's abstraction meets narrative in a manner that suggests both the temporal (historical) and the timeless (mythological). For instance, in "Veil of Orpheus," Twombly traces wax crayon lines over panels of painted canvas, creating what he describes as "a time line without time," a visual representation of Orpheus's enduring legacy that transcends specific historical moments. Meanwhile, the painting titled "Orpheus" features the name of Orpheus inscribed in the Cyrillic alphabet, hinting at the myth's narrative of loss and transformation, specifically Orpheus's tragic failure to bring back his wife Eurydice from the underworld and his subsequent dismemberment (Gagosian).
Twombly's works in the Orpheus series are not just visual renditions of mythological stories but are also profound engagements with the nature of creativity itself. The artist sees Orpheus as a figure who embodies the artistic process—capable of evoking both the infinity of creative potential and the inevitable forgetfulness or loss that accompanies the act of creation. This duality is present throughout Twombly's Orpheus series, where the visual language oscillates between destruction and transcendence, between the depth of historical memory and the immediacy of personal experience (Gagosian).
The Orpheus series by Cy Twombly, thus, serves as a poignant meditation on the power of art to navigate and negotiate the complexities of memory, loss, and renewal. Through his distinctive use of line, color, and text, Twombly invites viewers into a multilayered dialogue with the past, where myth and reality intertwine in the creation of new meanings and understandings.