Arcadian Painters

Last night, the Artists & Illustrators team headed to the opening of Arcadian Painters, a fascinating new exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery which brings together the work of contemporary painter Cy Twombly and the classical 17th century artist Nicolas Poussin.

The concept of the show is one that, if I'm honest, it would be easy to glance over and dismiss - highlighting the similar career path and interests of two artists whose work couldn't appear more contrasting.

Poussin started out by making hand-drawn copies of classical sculptures and Renaissance paintings. He settled on a style that prided itself on grand allegories in natural settings, full of epic tragedies and ruddy-faced cherubs. Twombly meanwhile is defiantly abstract, dealing in aggressive marks, scribbled phrases and tight bursts of colour on relentlessly off-white or textured surfaces.

Curator Dr Nicolas Cullinan had the idea to pursue the links between the two artists a few years ago when he was working on a Tate Modern retrospective of Twombly's work. The elderly American painter confessed that he had always wanted to emulate Poussin. When Cullinan dug deeper, he found a string of shared interests and biographical details - both produced a cycle of paintings based on the Four Seasons, both moved to Rome aged 30, and so on.

I'll be honest here and say that artists like Twombly normally leave me cold and, on a purely visual level, Arcadian Painters didn't make me like his work any more than I did before I went in. For me, his work is too ugly and restless to make me ever want a Twombly on my wall.

However, Arcadian Painters achieved what so few exhibitions actually manages to do. It made me appreciate and better understand what drives Twombly. And how many times can you honestly say that you've been able to do that when you've been stood in front of another faceless abstract painting?

His 'visual language' (a phrase director Ian Dejardin used in his opening speech) is not one I will ever be buying a Berlitz guide to learn, but I could begin to see how and why he was doing what he was doing. I began to see how Poussin was as important to him as Raphael, Mantegna and co. had been to the French artist back in the 1600s. By the final room, containing Twombly's quartet of giant Four Seasons inspired canvases, I began to stand in awe of his approach.

I really recommend visiting the exhibition if you get chance - it opens at Dulwich Picture Gallery today and runs until 25 September. You can even pick up cheap tickets with our 2-for-1 reader offer - find out more by clicking here.

Take an open mind and you might just surprise yourself...

Cy Twombly, Hero and Leander (To Christopher Marlowe), 1985.

Collection of the artist