Cy Twombly, a controversial American artist whose deceptively simple scrawls, smudges and sculptural shapes made him one of the most significant artistic figures of the past 50 years, died July 5 in Rome. He was 83 and had cancer.
Mr. Twombly, a native of Lexington, Va., spent most of his adult life in Italy, where he forged an original artistic path in spite of early criticism and outright mockery.