Twomblys: Story of a Family Resemblance

You might have noticed my affinity for Twombly the Elder here or here. I say Twombly the Elder because Cy Twombly has a son who is also an artist. Like his father, Alessandro Twombly toes the line between abstract and representational forms in his paintings such as the one above. He lives in Tuscany and likes to garden.

How did I find out those last personal tidbits? My mom's copy of Elle Decor (inspiration comes from unexpected places) that features his home.

The artist is better known for his sculptures, like the one below. This sculpture seems to grow out of it's narrow base in a clumpy, natural process like tree branches. Behind it you can find more of the artist's paintings. Look at them carefully.

I love the lush colors and huge size of the naturalistic forms, but something struck me as a little strange about the paintings. They remind me of his father's last show at Gagosian (a lot!) pictured on the left. The palate is the same, only reversed between the grouping of round blossoms and bright background. Soooo, it's strikingly odd that father and son have such similar paintings (colors, compositions, size, material).

Does a family resemblance really extend to paintings? What happened here?