Date of Award

2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Hassold, Cris

Keywords

Cy Twombly, Queer Modernism, Modern Art, The Iliad, Alexander Pope

Area of Concentration

Art History

Abstract

Fifty Days at Iliam is the name given to a painting in ten parts by Cy Twombly. I begin this thesis with a description of the visceral negative reaction I had to first viewing these paintings. I attempt to subdue this reaction by decoding Twombly's unique visual language in relation to Alexander Pope's translation of the Iliad. I then examine Twombly's earlier works in order to find precedents for the themes in Fifty Days at Iliam. I end by situating Twombly's work within a postwar historical context. I argue that the imagery in Fifty Days at Iliam could represent both the Trojan war and the violent wars of the twentieth century. Throughout this thesis I approach Twombly's works through the lens of queer theory.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida Libraries, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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