Description
Sarajevo. Original etching, aquatint and lithograph, 1984. Edition of 150 signed and numbered impressions on Arches paper.
Art and Sport portfolio: The Yugoslav Olympic Committee of the Winter Olympic Games Sarajevo 1984 wished to give a certain cultural-artistic accent to this world festivity. The admire of the Olympic idea, those who have a liking for the Olympic winter sports and the art connected with them will be, in agreement with the art publisher Visconti Art Lazo Vujić, honored by creations contributed by world known prominent artist. A portfolio containing sixteen original prints, handsigned and numbered by the artists, is published in a limited edition of 200 originals by each artist. Names like Dorazio, Folon, Greco, Helnwein, Hodgkin, Hwang, Kolar, Moore, Paladino, Pistoletto, Rosenquist, Santomaso, Stupica, Twombly and Warhol guarantee the high quality of the artistic idea and its realization. The size of the original print is 85 x 62 cm. The edition of the original graphic portfolio will be accompanied by limited editions of art posters of the same size, not numbered, but each of them carrying an impression of the inscription “Olympic Games Sarajevo 1984” and its logotype.
The themes proposed by the artists are either winter sports, the Olympic idea or the town of Sarajevo. All the artists remain faithful to their own specific expression, using the formal elements of the language developed through the years of their creative presence in world’s art. So every print included in the portfolio is at the same time a particular contribution to the continuity of their artistic orientation, the theme being an additional iconographic impulse to their visual research. The symbiosis of the Olympic idea and art is certainly an interesting creative proposal that will fascinate art-collectors and sport-lovers as well.
Cy Twombly was an American abstract Post-war artist who was best known for his large-scale paintings, that consist of looping marks scribbled and smeared on raw canvas or linen. Great travelings through Europe and North Africa influenced him a lot and he created works that are both personal and mythological, allowing narrative and inner visions to emerge from his abstract ideas. Twombly found inspiration in Greek and Roman mythology, history, and places, French Neoclassicism, and contemporary graffiti on ancient local walls. Writings and language were also in his abstract compositions – written word in the form of poems, myths, and histories sketched unidentifiable doodles and splotches or words directly onto the canvas and by creating line-based compositions, often inspired by handwriting.
The Yugoslavian Olympic Committee asked Cy Twombly to make a limited edition print for the Winter Games of 1984 and he created “Sarajevo” with signature aesthetic of calligraphic scribbles set against a monochromatic background. He referenced the ancient origins of the games by using the same characteristic scrawl that he had previously used for his 1976 series “Six Latin Writers and Poet”.
