Celebrated American painter Cy Twombly dies at 83

[July 06, 2011]  ROME (AP) -- Celebrated American painter Cy Twombly, whose large-scale paintings featuring scribbles, graffiti and unusual materials fetched millions at auction, has died. He was 83.

Gagosian Gallery spokeswoman Virginia Coleman said Twombly, who had cancer for a number of years, died Tuesday. Eric Mezil, director of the Lambert Collection in Avignon, France, where a Twombly show opened in June, said he died in Rome.

Twombly is known for his abstract works combining painting and drawing techniques, repetitive lines and the use of graffiti, letters and words.

In 2010, he painted a ceiling of the Louvre museum, the first artist given the honor since Georges Braque in the 1950s.

[Associated Press]

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