This large Cy Twombly acrylic painting, "Untitled" 2007, was one of 32 works exhibited in 2009 in a show at the Art Institute of Chicago. It measures 99 inches by 217 inches. / Photo by Mike Bruce, courtesy of Gagosian gallery.

Reclusive artist Cy Twombly, an American who moved to Rome in 1957 and stayed there, has died. He was 83.

The British newspaper The Guardian recently called Twombly "the greatest abstract painter alive."

Twombly's work, often inspired by writing, was out of favor in the postwar era, but gained critical recognition in the 1980s, when museums such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Menil Collection in Houston bought it and devoted permanent space to it. His sale prices rose accordingly. Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts each own works by Twombly.

"Untitled," by Cy Twombly, oil and crayon on canvas, 1970. / Courtesy of Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

The Tate Modern hosted a Twombly retrospective in 2008, and in 2009 the Art Institute of Chicago exhibited 32 late works, including paintings, sculptures and photgraphs, in its new wing.

A recent review of a show in London drew parallels between Twombly and the 17th-century painter Nicolas Poussin, whom Twombly worshipped.

For more details about Twombly, as well as a link to a gallery of Twombly images, go here.