The Poetic Scribbles of Twombly and Basquiat

"Apollo" by Cy Twombly

Editor's Note (August 9, 2011): The Museum of African American Cinema in Harlem will pay tribute to Jean-Michel Basquiat's work with a series of exhibits scheduled to run through January 2012.

I had never paid much attention to Cy Twombly's art until I read in the New York Times this week that he died recently. But immediately after focusing on his work, I realized that Jean-Michel Basquiat must have been heavily inspired by Twombly. I must admit that I laughed with glee when I showed a friend Twombly's scribbles and childlike masterpieces. There's something about his art that brings out the silliness in me. At first I joked about his "art," but then as I viewed more and more of it, I was mesmerized -- sort of like I'm fascinated with Basquiat's art.

Below are some samples of each artist's work. Tell me what you think. Can you see the resemblance?

Cy Twombly, whose spare childlike scribbles and poetic engagement with antiquity left him stubbornly out of step with the movements of postwar American art even as he became one of the era’s most important painters, died in Rome this week on Tuesday. He was 83.

Twombly

Basquiat