Eva Hesse [Hardcover]

Elisabeth Sussman (Author), James Meyer (Author), Briony Fer (Author), Renate Petzinger (Author), Ann Temkin (Author), Gioia Timpanelli (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2002

Eva Hesse, a pivotal figure in the development of postwar international art, created paintings, sculpture, and works on paper that were striking in their beauty and playful sensibility. Although much has been written about Hesse's dramatic life - her childhood flight from Nazi Germany, her struggles to gain acceptance as a young female artist, her battle with cancer, and her tragic death in 1970 at the age of 34 - her art has yet to receive the critical attention it deserves. This lavishly illustrated catalogue redresses that omission, focusing on Hesse's innovative working methods and choices of materials as well as on the larger aesthetic and philosophical questions raised by her artistic practice. The book presents and documents over two hundred works by Hesse in all media. Particular attention is devoted to the degradation and ageing of her sculptures over the past three decades. Essays by a distinguished team of writers deal with themes of mutability and decay in Hesse's art; discuss her little-known early career in New York and Germany; explore her innovative use of translucent materials; and examine the role of drawing and collage in her creative process. This catalogue accompanies an exhibition that will be on view at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art from February to May 2002; the Museum Wiesbaden, Germany, from July to September 2002; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, from September to December 2002.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The current trend toward having a number of experts write separate essays to accompany the illustrations in an exhibition catalog sacrifices coherency for in-depth analysis of disparate facets of an artist's life or work. This book is a perfect example. This beautifully illustrated catalog of the work of the most exciting female sculptor of the 1960s accompanies a major exhibition this spring at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. It is packed with 22 short essays, six long essays, and a roundtable discussion, all supported by a bibliography and an exhibition history. In her career, tragically cut short by a brain tumor, Hesse (1936-70) produced an extraordinary group of abstract sculptures of resin, latex, and fiber. A second tragedy looms as these unstable materials degrade and the artworks change color and lose their form. This work complements Lucy Lippard's biography of her contemporary and friend, Eva Hesse; Bill Barrette's catalog of Hesse's three-dimensional work, Eva Hesse: Sculpture; Catalogue Raisonn‚; and Helen Cooper's 1992 Eva Hesse: A Retrospective, which is a less complex analysis than the book in hand. Clearly, the time is ripe for a coherent life of Hesse with an assessment of her work and a catalog of both her well-known sculptures and her lesser-known paintings and drawings. In the meantime, this excellent work will fill the gap. Recommended for art collections and academic libraries. David McClelland, Philadelphia
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Although Hesse's revolutionary and enduringly influential sculptures--elegantly fluid abstractions made of latex, rope, and fiberglass that wed the organic with the industrial, the kinetic with the frozen--are always included in modern art surveys, this is the first comprehensive critical study and catalog of her work. Curator Sussman has assembled a strong cast of her peers to discuss various aspects of Hesse's daring oeuvre, from her high-voltage drawings to her use of unconventional materials, "love of line and collapsing form," and self-described "weird humor." Biographical observations are kept succinct, but there's no escaping the poignancy of Hesse's short and "extreme" life. Born in Hamburg in 1936, she fled the Holocaust as a child; her divorced mother committed suicide; her own marriage was unhappy; and she died of cancer at age 34. But her devotion to art was fierce, her talent precocious, and she accomplished in her last five feverish years what others couldn't achieve in decades. Unfortunately, her experimental sculptures are deteriorating, a loss that makes this gorgeously illustrated volume all the more precious. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (February 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300091680
• ISBN-13: 978-0300091687
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 9.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #840,095 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous book; too much space for early work, December 24, 2004

By 

Hellorinis "Hellorinis" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eva Hesse (Hardcover)

This is a beautiful volume on Hesse. Elizabeth Sussman, a wonderful curator and Hesse scholar, organized this exhibition and this is the catalogue. The design, images and layout are just wonderful, the only thing that is somewhat off is the concentration on her earlier work. Her paintings especially are widely featured and those are not nearly as transcendent and absolute as her later work. Her great accomplishment as a major artist was done when she "left" the canvas. The book does not present it as such; I find Lippard's book "Eva Hesse" to be the very best available. This, however, still has the best reproductions and it is a definitive book for all of us who admire Eva Hesse.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you can't see the show..., April 19, 2002

By 

D. Johnson (Palo Alto, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eva Hesse (Hardcover)

I, too, say "Thank you" to Eva Hesse and to the people who mounted the show and produced this catalog. I went to SFMOMA to see the major Edward Weston show and spent most of my time being captured by Eva Hesse. I've been back twice for each show.

The Sixties were full of new ideas in art and most were more noisy than Eva Hesse. So, we didn't see enough of her and she really didn't receive the recognition due her in this country. This book is a small step to redress that oversight.

Eva Hess was out on a limb and her work is about as easy to show as a rainstorm. It is a measure of how good she is that the show for this catalog was done so well. This catalog is up to its task.

A very moving and thought provoking show. This catalog will help keep her delicate adventure alive and spawn more Eva Hesses. If you are lucky it will get you to the show, then back to the book to think about this very "material girl", her personal life and perhaps what you should be doing with yours.

It is worth mentioning to those who don't know Hesse's work that this current show will most likely be the last that some of her work will survive. If you want to see it, do it now.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For libraries featuring catalogues of modern artists, April 10, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eva Hesse (Hardcover)

Eva Hesse was a strong figure in the development of postwar international art and created a variety of works in different mediums. While her life has received prior focus, this title provides critical attention to her art with a lavish catalogue which reveals her working methods, materials, philosophy and works: the first comprehensive examination since her last exhibition in 1972. A 'must' for libraries featuring catalogues of modern artists.