Eva Hesse Drawing, Letters & Memorabilia
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GUEST:
My mother went to Yale, and she met Eva when they went to a summer art program in, I think, '57, and they were roommates, and they just became fast friends right away. They stayed in touch over the years. My mom went to New York and they picked out my mother's wedding dress together. And when they went back to her studio, Eva said, "Pick something out for your wedding." So that was in 1961, or '60-'61. And this is the drawing that she picked out.
APPRAISER:
Eva Hesse, as you know, was born in Germany in 1936 and she did her graduate studies at Yale. And while she started with Abstract Expressionism, her style morphed into something much more mysterious and idiosyncratic. She ultimately became best known for her sculptures, which used all sorts of unusual, especially at that time, materials: rope and fiberglass. And she did all sorts of exotic things with very everyday objects. Among the things that I find interesting about, about this collection is how, is how prescient this drawing is. Because on the one hand, it's very figural, but it really quickly moves into what she's going to be known for, with these odd shapes sewn together, hanging in space on the floor. As I'm sure you know, Eva Hesse died of a brain tumor when she was 34. She was basically productive for ten years, from 1960 to her death in 1970. And during that time, she made such an impact on contemporary art, as well as women in art. Some people consider her to be a proto-feminist. She hated labels of any sort, so she would not have liked that. And she really thought that to make it in art, it's not about your sex, it's about excellence. Her sculptures today can sell at auction for in excess of $4 million.
GUEST:
(quietly): Wow.
APPRAISER:
What you really have is an archive. You have the letters; they talk about day-to-day things, but they also talk about art. They talk about her health.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
They're a very important component to the value of the, of the archive. You have the Yale catalogue of Yale artists in a retrospective exhibition in '93.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
You have your mother's address book. (chuckles) With Eva Hesse's address in it, which is just... (chuckling) It's just so amazing to me. And I would estimate it at auction-- the entire group, because I think it should be as a group-- at between $30,000 and $50,000.
GUEST:
(inhales)
APPRAISER:
I would say for insurance, maybe around $75,000.
GUEST:
Oh, wow. Yeah. I think we should get it insured, then.
APPRAISER:
I think you should get it insured.
GUEST:
Yeah.
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