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A watercolor, crayon and black ink drawing of vaguely defined shapes in three segments on cream colored paper.

The drawing shows vaguely defined shapes in three segments. The left side and bottom are covered in a thin gray color that is unevenly applied. The top and right side are covered in a thin black color that fades to gray in streaks along the top. The top segment has two rectangles, one horizontal, one on a diagonal, both are light in color with abstract shapes in the center. The center segment has a square outlined in thin reddish-brown color which is lighter on the bottom right cover. The bottom has a large rectangle outlined in shades of gray with circular forms.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2003.49
People
Eva Hesse, American (Hamburg, Germany 1936 - 1970 New York, NY)
Title
Untitled
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1960-1961
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/93426

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Watercolor, gouache, crayon and black ink on three sheets of cream wove paper attached with masking tape
Dimensions
19.5 x 15.2 cm (7 11/16 x 6 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • exhibition label: frame backing board, l.l., paper, printed: Eva Hesse / Tate Modern, London 13 November 2002 - 9 March 2003 / X02986 / Untitled / 1960-1 / Eva Hesse 1936-1970 / Watercolor and ink on paper, cut and reassembled 197 x 152 mm / Sarah-Ann and Werner H. Kramarsky, New York
  • gallery label: frame backing board, l.l., paper, typed: Galerie Renos Xippas / Eva Hesse [underlined] / Sans titre, 1960 / gouache, encre et collage / sur papier / 19,6 x 15,2 cm / (HESS-0046) book # 23 / 108, RUE VIEILLE-DU-TEMPLE - 75003 PARIS - TEL.: 40.27.05.55 - FAX: 40.27.07.16 [label is upside down reflecting previous orientation of drawing]
  • label: frame backing board, bottom center, paper, printed: WERNER H. KRAMARSKY / 560 Broadway New York, NY 10012 / (212) 966-6601 / Eva Hesse / Untitled / 1960, gouache, ink and paper collage on paper / 7 3/4 x 6 in. / 3533 [label is placed vertically reflecting a previous horizontal orientation of the drawing. "TOP" in blue ink is written along the top edge of the label].
  • exhibition label: frame backing board, l.r., white paper and red ink, printed and handwritten: IVAM / 93
  • exhibition label: frame backing board, u.r., paper, printed and typed: IVAM Centre Julio Gonzalez, Guillem de Castro, 118/46003 Valencia / EXPOSICIÓN Eva Hesse / FECHAS de 10 Febrero 1993 a 4 Abril 1993 / AUTOR EVA HESSE / AÑO 1960 / TÍTULO UNTITLED / MEDIDAS 19,6 x 15,2 cm NO. PRÉSTAMO / PROCEDENCIA Estate of Eva Hesse, Robert Miller G.
  • gallery label: frame backing board, center top, paper, typed: Eva Hesse / UNTITLED, 1960 / Ink, conte & paper collage on paper / 7 3/4 x 6"; 19.6 x 15.2 cm. / HESS-0046 / ROBERT MILLER GALLERY / 41 EAST 57th STREET / NEW YORK 10022.

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Estate of Eva Hesse, 1970, sold; to [Robert Miller Gallery, New York, New York], 2000, sold; to Werner H. Kramarsky, New York, New York], 2000, gift; to Harvard University Art Museums, 2003.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Sarah-Ann and Werner H. Kramarsky in honor of James Cuno
Copyright
© The Estate of Eva Hesse. Courtesy Hauser & Wirth
Accession Year
2003
Object Number
2003.49
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
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Publication History

  • Kathryn Ann Pasternak, "Sculptural Works by Eva Hesse: Inventiveness and Impermanence in Twentieth Century Art" (thesis (certificate in conservation), Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, 1985), Unpublished, pp. 1-167 passim
  • Elizabeth Frank, Eva Hesse, gouaches 1960-1961, exh. cat., Robert Miller and Renos Xippas (New York, NY and Paris, France, 1991), repr. pl. 23 (color)
  • Brigitte Reinhardt, Eva Hesse: Drawing in Space--Bilder und Reliefs, exh. cat., Hatje Cantz (Ostfildern, 1994), repr. p. 117 (color)
  • Elizabeth Sussman, ed., Eva Hesse, exh. cat., San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Yale University Press (U.S.) (San Francisco and New Haven, 2002), cat. no. 20, p. 320, and pp. 45 and 120, repr. pl. 11, p. 125 (recto and verso)
  • Volker Rattemeyer and Renate Petzinger, Eva Hesse, exh. cat., Museum Wiesbaden (Wiesbaden, Germany, 2002), pp. 21, 54 and 131, repr. color p. 55 (no cat. no.)
  • Amy Eshoo, ed., 560 Broadway: A New York Drawing Collection at Work, 1991-2006, Fifth Floor Foundation and Yale University Press (U.S.) (New York, 2008), p. 152, repr.

Exhibition History

  • Eva Hesse: Gouaches 1960-1961, Robert Miller Gallery, New York, 02/26/1991 - 03/23/1991; Galerie Renos Xippas, Paris, 04/13/1991 - 06/01/1991
  • Eva Hesse: Drawing in Space--Bilder und Reliefs, Ulmer Museum, D-89073 Ulm, 03/27/1994 - 05/23/1994; Westfälisches Landsmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster, 08/07/1994 - 10/16/1994
  • Isa Genzken, Eva Hesse, Karin Sander, Lucas Schoormans Gallery, New York, 09/13/2001 - 11/03/2001
  • Eva Hesse, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, 02/02/2002 - 05/19/2002; Museum Wiesbaden, 65185 Wiesbaden, 06/15/2002 - 10/13/2002; Tate Modern, London, 11/13/2002 - 03/09/2003
  • Nominally Figured: Recent Acquisitions in Contemporary Art, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 06/08/2006 - 02/25/2007
  • 32Q: 1100 60’s Experiment, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/07/2015 - 04/06/2016

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu