Cy Twombly: Five Day Wait at Jiayuguan
This book was published on the occasion of the exhibition Cy Twombly at Gagosian, 980 Madison Avenue, New York, which included the suite of works on paper Five Day Wait at Jiayuguan (1980). First exhibited at the 39th Biennale di Venezia, the suite was publicly reunited for the first time in more than forty years at the gallery. Featuring color tip-ins and housed in a slipcase, this publication—limited to 500 copies—is a facsimile of the artist’s book of Five Day Wait at Jiayuguan, originally published in an edition of 50 by Gabriele Stocchi in 1981 for the Venice presentation.
Made in Rome, the suite was inspired by Twombly’s travels the previous year through Russia, Afghanistan, and Central Asia, and is titled after Jiayuguan, a city in northwestern China on the edge of the Gobi Desert. Through gestural abstractions and poetic inscriptions, these painted, drawn, and collaged works evoke observations of life, history, and culture in the desert landscape.
Publisher: Gagosian
Publication date: 2025
Printer: Pureprint Group, Uckfield, England
Format: Softcover in slipcase
Dimensions: 9 7/8 × 13 3/4 inches (25 × 35 cm)
Pages: 32
Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-951449-80-3
