Skip to main content

Making Space for Art: Cy Twombly

Making Space for Art: A conversation on Cy Twombly

  • Date22 Nov 2021
  • Reading time 1min

In this discussion recording as part of the Making Space for Art series, Dr Frances Guerin (Film Studies, University of Kent) is in conversation with Professor Ahuvia Kahane (RHUL) on the subject Grey/Polychrome: Cy Twombly, Modernity, Classicism, and the History of Art.

Today more than ever, Cy Twombly’s paintings are both modernist and attached to the past and, particularly, to Antiquity. Much of Twombly’s work is characteristically grey (or white), cerebral and replete with absence. And yet other work makes use of bold primary colours, violent brushwork and rapid movement. This discussion between Frances Guerin and Ahuvia Kahane will explore the myriad tensions and provocations of Twombly’s paintings. From opposite, but not incompatible, approaches, the film scholar and the classicist will offer new perspective on a body of work that effortlessly embraces opposites that are nevertheless always impossible to articulate fully.

Chaired by Professor James Williams (Centre for Visual Cultures, Royal Holloway).

This discussion took place on 23 May 2018. 

 

Please click on the video to listen to the talk. 

You can view a transcript here

These talks were recorded for Royal Holloway by Backdoor Broadcasting. (Image used for video by Jonathan Farber.)

Explore Royal Holloway

Get help paying for your studies at Royal Holloway through a range of scholarships and bursaries.

There are lots of exciting ways to get involved at Royal Holloway. Discover new interests and enjoy existing ones.

Heading to university is exciting. Finding the right place to live will get you off to a good start.

Whether you need support with your health or practical advice on budgeting or finding part-time work, we can help.

Discover more about our academic departments and schools.

Find out why Royal Holloway is in the top 25% of UK universities for research rated ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’.

Royal Holloway is a research intensive university and our academics collaborate across disciplines to achieve excellence.

Discover world-class research at Royal Holloway.

Discover more about who we are today, and our vision for the future.

Royal Holloway began as two pioneering colleges for the education of women in the 19th century, and their spirit lives on today.

We’ve played a role in thousands of careers, some of them particularly remarkable.

Find about our decision-making processes and the people who lead and manage Royal Holloway today.