SCRIBES AND SCROLLS: THE MET PREPARES TO UNVEIL DEFINITIVE CY TWOMBLY RETROSPECTIVE

Image: from Brian Roemmele X @BrianRoemmele

By Open Chronicle Staff  | March 10, 2026

NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Museum of Art is reportedly finalizing plans for a sweeping retrospective of the late American master Cy Twombly, a move that signals a major critical re-evaluation of one of the 20th century’s most enigmatic figures.

While the museum has yet to release an official exhibition schedule, sources close to the institution suggest the showcase will be one of the most comprehensive looks at Twombly’s career since his passing in 2011. The exhibition is expected to span the full breadth of his six-decade career, from the early, scarred canvases of the 1950s to the explosive, crimson “late style” that defined his final years in Italy.

Twombly, often grouped with his contemporaries Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns, carved out a singular path that famously merged the raw energy of Abstract Expressionism with the intellectual depth of classical history and Mediterranean poetry. For decades, his work—characterized by “scribbled” calligraphy and weathered surfaces—polarized audiences. However, recent years have seen a surge in scholarly interest, particularly regarding his later, large-scale works.

“There is a shift happening,” notes a report from ARTnews, which first highlighted the museum’s quiet preparations. “The conversation is moving away from the old shorthand of ‘scribbles’ and toward a more attentive vocabulary—one that recognizes how these red, dripping, graffiti-like surfaces can hold both urgency and restraint at once.”

The upcoming retrospective is anticipated to feature key loans from the Cy Twombly Foundation, including his “gray-ground” canvases of the 1960s and the lush, pastoral paintings inspired by J.M.W. Turner and Claude Monet. A centerpiece of the collection is likely to be the “late paintings”—vast canvases where red paint slides and pools in a way that feels both chaotic and meticulously controlled.

For The Met, this retrospective represents more than just a gallery showing; it is an attempt to map the “writerly” aspect of Twombly’s practice, treating his paintings not just as images, but as texts to be read. As the art world descends on New York for the upcoming season, all eyes will be on the Fifth Avenue halls to see how the “Master of the Scrawl” is finally contextualized for a new generation.

The exhibition is rumored to open late next year, though official dates are pending.