Eva Hesse: Sculpture » (New Edition)

Elisabeth Sussman is Curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, and author of Eva Hesse (Yale). Fred Wasserman is Henry J. Leir Curator at The Jewish Museum, New York. Yve-Alain Bois is Professor at the School of Historical Studies, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, N.J. Mark Godfrey is Lecturer in the History and Theory of Art at University College London.

The work of Eva Hesse (1936–1970), one of the greatest American artists of the 1960s, continues to inspire and to endure in large part because of its deeply emotional and evocative qualities. Her latex and fiberglass sculptures in particular have a resonance that transcends the boundaries of minimalist art in which she had her roots. Hesse’s breakthrough solo exhibition—Chain Polymers at the Fischbach Gallery in New York in 1968—was a turning point in postwar American art.

Eva Hesse: Sculpture focuses on the artist’s large-scale sculptures in latex and fiberglass and provides a rare opportunity to look at Hesse’s artistic achievement within the historical context of her life in never-before-seen family diaries and photographs. Essays consider Hesse’s art from a variety of angles: Elisabeth Sussman discusses the sculptures shown in the 1968 solo exhibition; Fred Wasserman delves into the Hesse family’s life in Nazi Germany and in the German Jewish community in New York in the 1940s; Yve-Alain Bois examines Hesse’s works within the context of the art and aesthetic theories of the 1960s; and Mark Godfrey analyzes the importance of Hesse’s celebrated hanging sculptures of 1969–70. In addition to color reproductions of the artist’s sculpture, the book features a copiously illustrated chronology of the artist’s life.

Library Journal

Eva Hesse (1936-70), the celebrated American artist of the 1960s, is remembered for her poignant, minimalist-inspired work. This catalog, which accompanies the exhibition of the same name at the Jewish Museum in New York (showing until September 17, 2006), focuses on Hesse's brief life and artistic achievements, emphasizing the moment she secured her status as an artist in 1968. Both the catalog and the exhibit feature Hesse's deeply expressive body of sculptural work made of industrial synthetics. Never before published or displayed family documents, photographs, memoirs, and ephemera from Hesse's short life provide a rich historical context. Themes of the exhibition, such as her family's life in Nazi Germany and her sculpture in comparison to other art of the 1960s, are carefully considered in erudite essays by notable contributors Elisabeth Sussman, Fred Wasserman, Yve-Alain Bois, and Mark Godrey. The catalog comes complete with copious color plates, a chronology of Hesse's life, an exhibition checklist, a bibliography and notes, a list of exhibitions and reviews, and an index. Highly recommended for libraries with an art history focus.-Jennifer H. Krivickas, Yale Ctr. for British Art Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.