1001 Ways to Die – (7) Cy Twombly, American, Painter and Sculptor

Cy Twombly, one of my favourite modern artists, has died on Tuesday, 5th July 2011 in Rome, Italy, losing a long battle to cancer.

His work “The Rose” was the object of a previous article. In another article on this blog I presented his sculpture “Thermopylae” in relation to C. Cavafy’s poem. Today I want to travel with Twombly in the Sea.

I have somehow visualized Death, more precisely the departure from this life, to embarking, to getting on a boat and sailing in the sea. This is no crossing of Acheron, the river of Hades. This is becoming one with the Sea, taking his boat out to the sea, and then sinking with it.

In order to do this, I will use his “Poems to the Sea”, a series of 24 works done in 1959, a photograph of the Sea that the artist took, and his monumental work “Lepanto”.

Twombly in 1958, the year after he moved to Italy from the US. Photograph: David Lees/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Poems to the Sea

‘As Twombly told the critic David Sylvester, “the Mediterranean is always just white, white, white”: in the 24 drawings called Poems to the Sea the colour blue barely appears, and yet the cursory lines and spots create a sea of the mind’s eye – hours of contemplation transformed into a few cryptic marks. With their textured, creamy backgrounds, the paintings inspired by Procida are also extremely evocative: parched cliff-tops in the Bay of Naples; crumbling plaster; the heat – it’s all there if you look for it, though without that act of the imagination the charm quickly fades.’ (source: Christopher Masters, the Guardian).

Poems to the Sea, 1959, Collection Dia Art foundation, New York

‘What order of poems, punctuated with numerals and question marks, are these? The sea is reduced to horizon line and word, scribblings and veils of paint against the stark white of paper. A persistent compulsion is invoked in the viewer, the desire to read what is there, but not fully manifest in the artist’s scrawled script. Two words in these drawings emerge into legibility, “time”and “Sappho”, as if washed up on the beach alongside sudden, subtle gem-flashes of colour – blue, orange-yellow, pink – gleaming all the more because of their discretion. In these pages, meaning is endlessly frustrated and pursued. It settles only in the distance, figured perhaps by the horizon lines that move across the top of each of the drawings – in fact, simply grey or blue lines made with a straight edge, but suggesting seascapes at the vanishing point. The flat planes of sea and page have been collapsed. Writing comes in waves, rolling funnels of cursive script, crossed out, erased, enfoamed in satiny greyish-white paint. The signs are given as nascent forms, as gestural indications of “the hand’s becoming”, as Roland Barthes so aptly phrased it.’ (source: Claire Daigle on Cy Twombly, Tate Gallery, London).

Cy Twombly: Miramare 2005

Miramare

‘Cy Twombly photographs the subjects that he encounters in his studio in Gaeta, in Bassano, Rome or in Lexington, on the beach at Miramare or in botanical gardens, using an instant camera. By means of a special pigmenting process that involves dryprint, these one-offs are enlarged and printed in limited editions. Not only the special saturation of color, but also the fact that the shots are strikingly out of focus account for their unmistakable nature and extraordinary appeal. The consistent lack of focus is reminiscent of the photographs of the late 19th-century Pictorialists. Hubertus Von Amelunxen, however, discerns photo-historical references to the early days of photography, namely to early calotypes, first paper photographs permeated in “light and emulsion”. Indeed, with their aesthetic effect, Twombly’s photographic images exhibit a sense of both astonishment and entrancement with the (new) technology. The unusual and the new is of a quite singular beauty.

Using his particular technique, Cy Twombly manages to concentrate on the textures of surfaces which, removed from the flow of time, generate visual orders of an over-arching world of perception. Hubertus Von Amelunxen calls them “musical, rhythmical positions in an ineffable syntax” – as the focus is not on representation but on the unmistakable nature of things or the clarity of motifs. Finding the invisible in the visible, retaining the purportedly excluded in the image and at the same time sensing the intangible dimensions of time and space, that is what constitutes the great appeal of Twombly’s photographs. The eye is always very close to things, the direct view suggests an almost intimate proximity – of tender tulip blooms, of everyday objects such as glasses and bottles, of the artist’s slippers, his brushes and painting utensils, and not least his paintings themselves.’

(Source: La Lettre de la Photographie)

Cy Twombly: Lepanto

Lepanto

The work consists of 12 large canvases that looks back to one of the most important naval battles of early modern history. Lepanto was shown in September 2008 in the Museo del Prado prior to its permanent installation in the Brandhorst Museum in Munich in October of the same year. I saw the work in Brandhorst in 2010 and was deeply moved by it.

‘When Cy Twombly was offered a gallery dedicated to his work at the 2001 Venice Biennale, he chose to create a new work especially for the space, a work that he describes as one painting in twelve parts. For his concept of the project, Twombly turned to the genre of history painting. Before the advent of Modernism in the late 19th century, history painting, which encompassed images from mythology, the bible, and the lives of the saints, as well as scenes from ancient to contemporary history, was considered the highest achievement of the painter´s art. Responding to the exhibition´s locale adjoining the Arsenale shipyard, Twombly chose of his subject the famous 1571 naval battle of Lepanto.

Cy Twombly in front one of the "Lepanto" panels in the Venice Biennale of 2001

Venice, then an immensely powerful city-state, instigated the formation of an alliance against the Ottoman Empire, which had been attacking its colonies in the eastern Mediterranean and defiling their churches. Brokered by Pope Pius V, the western European alliance consisted of Venice, the Papal States, and Spain, three major Catholic powers of the post-Reformation period. The battle of Lepanto has always been viewed as a turning point in the history of Europe. The Ottoman Empire had heretofore seemed invincible and its fleet was far larger than the alliance´s armada. With more manageable Venetian-designed ships and superior deployment of artillery, the alliance vanquished and burned the Ottoman fleet. Lepanto was the last major sea battle that involved ramming and hand-to-hand fighting on deck. It was the first triumph of Christian Europe over the seemingly all-powerful Islamic Ottoman Empire. It also marked the end of the Mediterranean as the locus of shipping and trade; henceforth, the Atlantic routes to the riches of the American colonies dominated naval activity.

Twombly arranged Lepanto in a way that is at once symphonic and cinematic with four images of flames and falling leaves presaging, interrupting, and concluding his highly abstract narrative of the battle. The maritime scenes, with their stick-figure images of fighting galleys, become increasingly dense with the final triad drenched in the colors of his rich, limited palette. The lushness of the reds and yellows counterpoints their depiction of flames and blood.’

(Source: The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, USA)

As the ship disappears in the horizon, where sky and sea merge, I quote from Roland Barthes (The Wisdom of Art by Roland Barthes 3):

‘If we wished to locate this ethic, we would have to seek very far, outside painting, outside the West, outside history, at the very limit of meaning, and say, with the Tao Te King:

He produces without appropriating anything,
He acts without expecting anything,
His work accomplished, he does not get attached to it,
And since he is not attached to it,
His work will remain.’

Farewell Cy Twombly

 

Artichokes Jewish Style – Carciofi alla Giudea

This is a classic dish, and a very tasty one!

I was in Rome for one day and had the chance to grab “carciofi alla Giudea” for a bite!

It all begins with an excellent product. The roman artichoke. Look at it! Nice, round, plumb, a sphere full of flavors!

The artichoke is fried twice, once as a round object with a bit of the stem sticking out, then it is flattened so that the leaves become like an umbrella and then fried again, until the leaves become crispy. These crispy leaves, partnered with the sweet tender flesh is an unforgettable combination.

Imago Restaurant, Rome, Italy

In my last trip to Rome I had the pleasure of dining in one of the best restaurants in town, Imago, on the top floor of Hotel Hassler, with fantastic views of the eternal city.

Hotel Hassler

I quote from Times Travel:

“Grace Kelly honeymooned at this turn-of-the-century palace at the top of the Spanish Steps, and it’s still the hotel of choice for many of today’s celebs and stylish tastemakers in search of old-world elegance (Gwyneth, TomKat, and Victoria Beckham are all regulars). Renowned for its personalized service, the Hassler is a family affair — a place where guest relations are taken very seriously. The 95 stately rooms are a checklist of classic good taste, with elaborate moldings, gilded furniture, French silks, 16th-century antiques, Limoges porcelain, playful frescoes, and marble, marble, marble, plus mod cons like flat-screen TV’s. Imàgo, its modern Italian restaurant, has heart-stopping views of St. Peter’s Basilica and Rome’s terracotta-tiled roofs. And the concierges can accommodate just about any request, including mapping out routes through the Villa Borghese gardens, near the hotel.”

I was staying at a nearby hotel and walked the distance, passing through Via Veneto. It is a beautiful part of Rome, and I highly recommend staying in this area.

The view from inside the Imago rooftop is amazing.To the extent than when I saw it, I started having second thoughts about the food, as one of the golden rules of the restaurant business is that when the view is stunning, the food sucks. Thankfully, I was proven wrong.

View of Rome from Imago

With determination I moved on and got a table. The clients of the restaurant are varied. You have the visitors who come for the views and the ones who come for the food and the elegant atmosphere. In one of the tables there was a family with two kids, with both grandparents, celebrating the birthday of one of the kids. Wonderful “tableau vivant”, with the grandmother reminding me of one of the powerful female figures in the black and white Fellini movies.

Lets move to the food now, and the gastronomic menu the chef prepared. The menu overall is structured in three stages. Stage I is the “delicate” one, with two appetizer dishes, both of them seafood based.  Stage II is the “taste explosion” set of two half-portions of first courses. Both are strong in taste and flavor. Stage III is a combination of two half-portions of main dishes.

The first starter was raw fish of the day. I do not recall the name of the fish, but it was quite tender, moist and tasty. The high point of the dish was the combination of the raw fish with pears infused with grappa. Personally I do not understand the foamy bits, in my eyes they are like aesthetic pollution, but lets ignore them, everyone these days seems to put a little foam here and there!

The next dish was an imaginative preparation of scallops, as they they were stuffed with mozzarella and then fried.The chef added a touch of black truffle to the finished dish, which was extremely subtle in taste and texture, a true delight. The dish is extremely delicate, and the frying must be very quick and swift, otherwise the scallop is destroyed.

The continuation was more intense in flavors and powerful, as the chef prepared pheasant ravioli with cauliflower puree and truffle-flavored honey. Full-bodied, intense flavor, and meaty texture were the characteristics of the dish.

The dish that followed was the star of the menu. Capellini pasta with smoked eel. A divine dish, one that I would include in the Italian Gastronomic All – Time Menu, if there was ever one. A magic of textures and flavors emanates from the dish. The chef came by and had a chat with me after the dinner was over, and he more or less agreed that this dish is his masterpiece. It is quite interesting, that of all the dishes in the restaurant of one of the most expensive hotels in the world, the best is one based on the humble eel of the Lazio region and capellini pasta, which you can find everywhere in Italy. The other golden rule of gastronomy, that is to use the materials of the terroir is yet again proven 100% correct! The chef had at his disposal the most expensive materials in some of the dishes. Yet his signature dish is the one that serves humbly the tradition of the Lazio region. To be correct, I belive that the dish is also traditional fare in the central regions of Italy, like Umbria.

The next dish was a fish and shrimp combination, that left me untouched, as it was rather faceless.

The last dish of the menu was excellent! Roast pigeonwith all the game flavor of the world! Nothing beats that! And it was roasted to perfection.

I found the serving of artichokes with the pigeon an excellent idea!

To conclude the excellent dinner, the chef offered a sweet tray, where the pistacchio canolo stole the show!

Chef Francesco Apreda has a bright future ahead of him, all we need to do is follow him as he evolves and grows as a chef. The one Michelin star he has been awarded is fully justified. And there will be more!


Michelangelo’s Pieta: Rome and Florence

Today I would like to share with you some thoughts on two Michelangelo sculptures with the same subject: Pieta.

There is a third Michelangelo Pieta in Milan, Italy, but I will not include it in this post.

Lets begin with the definition of Pieta:

Mary with Jesus Christ’s body: a painting or sculpture of the Virgin Mary mourning over Jesus Christ’s dead body” (source: encarta)

Pieta, Rome, St Peters Basilica
Michelangelo: Pieta, Rome, St Peters Basilica

Rome Pieta

The first and more famous is the Pieta in Rome, St. Peter’s Basilica, Pieta Chapel.

Michelangelo sculpted the Rome Pieta when he was 24 years old, in 1499. Supposedly, this is the most famous sculpture in the world, and bears the signature of Michelangelo. It must be noted that Michelangelo has not signed any other of his works.

The form of the sculpture is the most common in Christianity in and after the Medieval Ages, while the style is typical of High Renaissance. Beauty to the extreme and shining marble surfaces. 

The overall feeling from the sculpture is serenity, and the controlled emotion. It is as if either the dead Christ will wake up anuy moment, so we are waiting for this to happen, or that Death is inevitable and we must find a way to cope with it without wasting a lot of energy.

The face of Jesus
The face of Jesus

The face of Jesus which we cannot see easily when we visit the chapel, more or less confirms this transient state between life and death, as if a negotiation is in progress, and Jesus takes a nap until they agree on what will happen. And what a perfect face! There is no wrinkle, not a scratch, not a single hair sticking out, only the closed eyes give an indication that this face may not be alive after all.

Mary's face
Mary's face

Mary is so young that she created a lot of comments when the Pieta was shown to the public of Rome. Michelangelo claimed that pure women never age, a statement that can be attributed to his “political” rather than artistic spirit.

She does not seem to be mourning, but coping with a difficult situation, she is almost detached from the drama, a sympathetic observer rather than the Mother of the Dead Jesus.

There is more drama in the folds of Mary’s dress than in her face.

Florence Pieta

The Florence Pieta (it is also called deposition, or the Bandini Pieta) was never finished. Michelangelo in a rage after ten years of work tried to destroy it in 1555, but he did not manage to do so. The sculpture was saved by a servant named Antonio, then bought by the Florentine Banker Bandini and repaired by one of Michelangelo’s  assistants (Cacagni). 

Pieta, Florence, Museo Duomo
Michelangelo: Pieta, Florence, Museo Duomo

The form in the Florence Pieta is not the ordinary one. There are four figures, in a complex arrangement of twisted bodies and spread arms and legs.

Mary is on her knees trying to support the body of Jesus, but she cannot manage this on her own. The bearded man (Nicodemus?) is helping her, and at the same time is becoming the tip of the pyramid of the composition.

It is clear that Mary belongs ot the “unfinished-damaged” part of the sculpture, but it does not matter a single bit! I think that the power of the sculpture is to a large extent due to this unique and moving combination of the “finished” and the “unfinished” parts. 

Christ and Mary
Jesus and Mary

There is no distance between the two faces, of Jesus and Mary. They touch and blend into a powerful pair that is full of the Drama and the Despair and the Loss.

Bearded Man
Bearded Man

The bearded man is said to be Michelangelo himself, as according to Giorgio Vasari, the artist intended to place the sculpture on his tomb. His poweful figure is providing shelter to Mary and is also supporting the body of Jesus. His face is the epitomy of sorrow and contemplation of the Drama of Death.

Pieta, Florence, Museo Duomo
Michelangelo: Pieta, Florence, Museo Duomo

From this angle we can see that the bearded man’s head is also at an angle, along with his shoulders and arms that provide to the sculpture a sense of motion that contrasts the lifeless body of Jesus. 

Jesus and Mary
Jesus and Mary

There has been a lot of research on the events surrounding this sculpture. Even IBM have been involved, in an effort to reproduce the original before it was mutilated by Michelangelo. I leave all of this to the experts. As far as I am concerned, the Florence Pieta is one of the most powerful sculptures I have seen and I consider it as a must for every visitor of Florence.

Red Meats of Italy – A selection – Part 1

All of a sudden, I decided to post some images of red meats and red meat dishes from Italy. I call this Part 1 as I expect there will be more in the future.

I start by stating that I am not a fan of red meat. In an average place I usually do not order red meat. I prefer to eat vegetables, or chicken, or even better, a nice sald with cheese!

But I am a fan of exceptional red meat and its by products, flavours and colours and juices.

And this is what I will try to post here, the red meat beyond, creations that take the primary material and tranform it to something that is and is not the original. Transformation and transfiguration.

All the items included in thepost are”classics”, ie they have been around for a lond time and are here to stay. No meteorites, no short-lived stars, only treats that cut across the years.

Culatello di Zimbello
Culatello di Zibello

I start with the Emperor of the Italian cured meats: Culatello di Zibello!

Storage Area
Storage Area

This is the storage area where Miriam Leonardi (owner of “Trattoria La Buca” in the small town of Zimbello) keeps her treasures.

Slicing machine
Slicing machine

When I saw this machine I thought that it only befits the marvelous culatello to have such a beauty for slicing it.

Salumi di Cremona
Salame artigianale tipico di Cremona
I tasted this beauty in “Caffe la Crepa”, in the small town of Isola Dovarese. It was juicy, almost sweet, and its texture allowed it to melt in the mouth. Apparently Cremona does not only produce the finest violins in the world! Soppressata
Soppressata
Soppressata
Dekicious “Soppressata” from the “il Latini” restaurant in Florence.
Filetto di maiale affumicato
Filetto di maiale affumicato
Smoked pork filet from “Locanda San Lorenzo”, in the small town of Puos d’Alpago, near Belluno, Veneto.
Lardo di colonnato con zucca
Lardo di Mora Romagnola con zucca
An excellent treat, from “Trattoria Amerigo dal 1934” in the small town of Savigno, near Bologna. Lardo is transparent, sweet, and it melts in your mouth leaving a sense of olive oil! The zucca is the well know paumpkin, that here is grainy, tasty, and providdes support to the heavenly taste of the lardo!
Selection of antipasti
Selection of antipasti

 

A selection of antipasti from the “Vino e Camino” Ristorante in Bracciano, near Rome.

 

Steak Tartere di Vitello
Steak Tartare di Vitello
This tartare steak  comes from the wineshop of Pallatino in Roma. It is served without egg and the other regular trimmings. Just lemon, pecorino and light greens. The meat taste was clear, fresh and the firm texture of it made the pleasure complete. I was afraid that it would be a rather boring dish, given the absence of taste enhancing materials that accompany a Steak Tartar. I was wrong! Top quality veal does not need anything more than just some lemon to cut the protein surge, and a light cheese to provide a salty stimulus to the palate.

 

Display of meats in Dario Cecchini's Macelleria
Display of meats in Dario Cecchini's Macelleria
This is part of the diaply in Dario Cecchini’s Macelleria in the small town of Panzano, near Firenze.
Renaissance Salame
Renaissance Salame
Dario’s shop is full of surprises, including this one!

 

Ramerino in culo
Ramerino in culo
Marinated beef cubes (it could be called beef sushi) served with rosemary, from the restaurant of Dario Cecchini, Solociccia, although Dario does not call it a restaurant, but the home of a butcher!
Bolitti
Bolitti
A selection of boiled meats with vegetable and herb sauces, prepared by the team of Amerigo dal 1934.
Porcini e fegato di vitello
Porcini e fegato di vitello
A divine combination, porcini mushrooms with tender ultra sweet calf’s liver, from “dal Pescatore”, in the Park of River Oglio.
Fiocco di Manzo
Fiocco di Manzo
Roast beef from Dario Cecchini’s restaurant.
Roast Pork
Roast Pork
Roast pork from Dario Cecchini’s Antica Macelleria in Panzano.
Animelle co i funghi
Animelle co i funghi

 

Sweetbreads with porcini mushrooms offered by Osteria di San Cesario, near Rome.

 

Bistecca Fiornetina
Bistecca Fiornetina
Glorious juicy bistecca from “il Latini” in Firenze.
Capello da prete di manzo
Capello da prete di manzo
Cappello da prete di manzo al barbera e polenta gialla belgrano! This is the full name of the dish offered by “dal Pescatore”.

Wine Bar dei Frescobaldi – Aeroporto di Roma, Fiumicino, Italy

 
Genuinely polite service
Genuinely polite service

I believe that civilization is an everyday affair. Of course saying is not practicing. One of the occasions when I felt that practicing is not that difficult, was when I by chance visited the Frescobaldi Wine Bar at Fiumicino.

I had a couple of hours to kill before catching my flight back to Athens. This time is usually spent shopping things I do not need, or being bored to death.

This time I got lucky. I opened my eyes and there it was: an oasis of civilization.

I has the seafood crudo misto and felt that I was by the sea. I accompanied it with a full bodied glass of chardonnay to establish some balance with the strong raw seafood flavours.

 

 Crudo Misto
Crudo Misto

The very nice lady serving me offered me at the end some nice biscottini (cookies) and I washed them down with a divine glass of Grappa di Brunello. There is no better way to prepare yourself for a flight!