Eva Hesse

American, born Germany, 1936-1970

No title — Eva Hesse (American, born Germany, 1936-1970). *Untitled*, 1970. Fiberglass over wire mesh, latex over cloth over wire, box: 12 x 9 x 4 1/2 inches (30.5 x 22.9 x 11.5 cm); cord: 78 inches (198.2 cm). Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; Elisabeth H. Gates and Sherman S. Jewett Funds, 1978 (1978:5). © Estate of Eva Hesse.

No title, 1970

Currently on View

Collection Highlight

Fiberglass, polyester resin, wire-mesh, latex, cloth, and wire

box: 12 x 9 x 4 1/2 inches (30.48 x 22.86 x 11.43 cm); cord: 78 inches (198.12 cm)

Collection Buffalo AKG Art Museum

Elisabeth H. Gates and Sherman S. Jewett Funds, 1978

1978:5

Provenance:

the artist;
transferred to the estate of the artist upon her death in 1970;
sold through Droll/Kolbert Gallery, New York, as agent for the artist's estate, to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, June 9, 1978

Object Classifications:

Sculpture

Construction (sculpture)

Information may change due to ongoing research. Glossary of Terms

Although Eva Hesse died at the age of 34, after a career spanning less than ten years, she left behind a remarkable body of work that pulsates with rich, textural materials. This work's cord is a line that links the space seen by the viewer with an imagined space behind the wall from which it protrudes. This illusion implies that the connection between the two spaces is dependent upon the artist’s intervention. Hesse’s work relies upon these types of minor absurdities, simple spatial interactions that connect the real and the imagined. According to the artist, such works are as much about emotion as they are about her efforts to “humanize Minimalism.” As Hesse stated, “What makes a tight circle or a tight little square box more of an intellectual statement than something done emotionally, I don’t know. Art is an essence, a center.”

Label from One Another: Spiderlike, I Spin Mirrors, March 7–June 1, 2014