one of my favorite artists, cy twombly, died today in rome. he was 83. although the cause was not immediately know, mr. twombly had suffered from cancer. the curator kirk varnedoe, on the occasion of a 1994 retrospective at the museum of modern art, wrote that his work was "influential among artists, discomfiting to many critics and truculently difficult not just for a broad public, but for sophisticated initiates of postwar art as well." a true talent.