Hesse, Eva (hĕs`ə), 1936–70, American sculptor, b. Hamburg, Germany. Hesse's sculpture displays an antiformalism that developed in the late 1960s in reaction against conventional geometric constructivism. Using such materials as latex, fiberglass, wire, and rope, she built numerous repeating series of large and eccentric forms. These were grouped irregularly over the floor or hung from the ceiling. Hesse's innovative work was cut short by her death from a brain tumor.

Bibliography

See B. Barrette, Eva Hesse Sculpture (1989).

Hesse, Eva

(born Jan. 11, 1936, Hamburg, Ger.—died May 29, 1970, New York, N.Y., U.S.) German-born U.S. sculptor. She arrived in New York City with her family in 1939, fleeing the Nazi regime. She attended the Pratt Institute, Cooper Union, and Yale University. In 1964 she married and moved briefly to Germany and began making sculpture, developing a style featuring sensuous shapes and unconventional materials (including rubber tubing, synthetic resins, cord, cloth, and wire). In the 1960s she exhibited throughout the U.S. and achieved critical acclaim; her work was sometimes asssociated with Minimalism. In 1969 she underwent the first of three unsuccessful operations for a brain tumour. Her influence since her death has been widespread.

Hesse, Eva (1936–70) sculptor; born in Hamburg, Germany. She and her family escaped Nazism and emigrated to New York City (1939), where she attended Pratt Institute (1952) and Cooper Union (1952–55). After a trip to Germany (1964–65) she specialized in organic surrealistic images, as in Untitled (known as Seven Poles) (1970). Based in New York City, she died of a brain tumor.