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Preview image of work. brush & black ink, brush & colored inks, white, and collage with traces of graphite on white wove paper,  Untitled 11408

1995.18

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Untitled

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Artist

Eva Hesse (Hamburg, Germany, 1/11/1936 - 5/29/1970)

Title

Untitled

Creation Date

1964

Century

20th century

Dimensions

19 5/8 in. x 25 1/2 in. (49.8 cm. x 64.7 cm.)

Object Type

drawing

Creation Place

North America, United States

Medium and Support

brush & black ink, brush & colored inks, white, and collage with traces of graphite on white wove paper

Credit Line

Museum Purchase, George Otis Hamlin Fund

Copyright

This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s Copyright Terms and Conditions.

Accession Number

1995.18

"Untitled" is an abstract, brightly colored, and zestful drawing that includes elements outlined in inks or applied as collage. Various “free, crazy forms,” as Hesse characterized them, hover around the principal shapes. A work that on first viewing appears disorganized, “Untitled” reveals over time a delicate compositional equilibrium. Drawing was of critical importance to Hesse, for it was the medium in which she felt most free to experiment. In the early part of her career, the artist struggled with painting because, as she explained, she felt obstructed by the weight of tradition. “Untitled” was likely completed shortly before her transition to three-dimensional work. In 1965, she began producing latex, fiberglass, and plastic sculptures that helped to usher in Postminimalist art. This drawing allows the viewer a glimpse into the creative mind of an artist at a pivotal moment in her extremely brief career.

Object Description

drawing of abstract shapes against a yellow background, with added collage elements