NARRATOR:

Eva Hesse experimented with industrial materials, pressing them into service of contemporary sculpture. This is a test piece for a series of works called Contingent, which consists of eight separate panels of cheesecloth painted with latex, then dipped in fiberglass. That last step made the works brittle beyond repair, prompting a conversation about how to address their fragility.

Molly Donovan, associate curator of modern art.

MOLLY DONOVAN:

With this work, Hesse is really breaking down barriers and the traditional definition of painting and sculpture and she’s combining them. She’s creating an amalgam of both.

MOLLY DONOVAN:

There are a lot of condition issues with her work. Philosophically, curatorially, what is the responsible thing to do when a work of art is made of a material that will degrade? What has been agreed upon by teams of curators and conservators is that nothing will be done. That the work will be allowed to live its own life, in its own time. This is particularly the case because the artist is no longer with us, so she can’t remake the work, she can’t fix it.

NARRATOR:

The Jewish German-born American painter died of a brain tumor at age 34.

MOLLY DONOVAN:

Test Piece for “Contingent,” to me, is a hauntingly beautiful work, and it’s even more so when one considers Hesse’s own very brief life.