Test Piece for "Contingent"

1969

Eva Hesse

Sculptor, German, 1936 – 1970, active United States

A long, rectangular strip of yellowed painted fabric is draped over a horizontal wooden rod that hangs from the ceiling in this sculptural piece. The dowel is perpendicular to the wall so juts into the gallery space. In this photograph, we are almost in front of the piece, near the wall to look onto one of the long sides. The cheesecloth hangs straight down either side of the dowel so it is longer in the back, and the ends do not touch. An uneven application of latex paint on most of the fabric gives the work a rubbery appearance, and causes some variation in the surface to create shiny areas. The loose weave of the cheesecloth is visible at the ends where the fabric was not painted. The cloth and dowel seem to float in midair because the filament from which the rod hangs is invisible in this photograph.
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Test Piece for "Contingent" (English)
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Artwork overview

More About this Artwork

Video:  How Eva Hesse’s Sculpture Changed the Face of Minimalism

Watch as New York Times art critic Aruna D’Souza examines Eva Hesse's sculpture Test Piece for "Contingent."

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Gift from the artist to Naomi Spector and Stephen Antonakos, New York; purchased 14 November 1996 by NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1992

  • Eva Hesse: A Retrospective, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., 1992-1993, pl. 113.

2006

  • Eva Hesse: Sculpture, The Jewish Museum, New York, 2006, unnumbered catalogue, pl. 31.

Bibliography

1971

  • Lippard, Lucy R. "Eva Hesse: The Circle." Art in America (May-June 1971): 70.

  • Pincus-Witten, Robert. "Eva Hesse: Post-Minimalism into the Sublime." Artforum 10, 3 (1971): 42.

1972

  • Eva Hesse: A Memorial Exhibition, Exh. cat. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1972.

1973

  • Nemser, Cindy. "My Memories of Eva Hesse." The Feminist Art Journal 2, no. 1 (Winter 1973): 12.

1976

  • Lippard, Lucy R. Eva Hesse. New York, 1976: 164-167.

1983

  • "Eva Hesse Diaries." Art in America (Summer 1983): 117, 118.

  • Johnson, Ellen H. "Order and Chaos: From the Diaries of Eva Hesse." ArtAm 71, 6 (1983): 117-118.

1989

  • Barrette, Bill. Eva Hesse: Sculpture. New York, 1989.

1994

  • Eva Hesse: Drawing in Space - Bilder und Reliefs. Exh. cat. Ulmer Museum; Westfälisches Landesmuseum Münster. Ulmer, 1994: 13, 17, repro.

1996

  • O'Sullivan, Michael. "Exposing A Wound Of Its Own. National Gallery Buys Visceral Textile Work." The Washington Post (28 October 1996): D7.

1999

  • Regarding Beauty: A View of the Late Twentieth Century. Exh. cat. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; Haus der Kunst, Munich. Washington, D.C., 1999: 196, fig. 64.

2002

  • Sussman, Elisabeth, ed. Eva Hesse. San Francisco, 2002.

Wikidata ID

Q63861762

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