Irrational Judgments: Eva Hesse, Sol LeWitt, and 1960s New York

200 Pages·2015·9.344 MB·English

by  Kirsten Swenson

Irrational Judgments
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Irrational
Judgments
Eva Hesse,
Sol LeWitt, and
1960s New York
Kirsten Swenson
Yale University Press
New Haven and London
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Copyright © 2015 by Kirsten Swenson.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form
(beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except
by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers.
yalebooks.com/art
Designed and typeset in Univers by Katy Homans
Printed in China by Regent Publishing Services Limited
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014953549
ISBN 978-0-300-21156-6
ebook ISBN: 978-0-300-21434-5
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z 39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Jacket illustrations: (front) Hermann Landshoff, Eva Hesse (fi g. 10), Sol LeWitt (fi g. 24); (back)
Eva Hesse, Washer Table (fi g. 1)
Frontispiece: Mel Bochner, Eva Hesse’s studio table (fi g. 11)
Page vi: Sol LeWitt standing next to Eva Hesse, Several (1965) at the opening of Eccentric
Abstraction, Fischbach Gallery, New York, September 1966. Photograph by Norman Goldman.
Courtesy of Daniel Goldman.
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Contents
vii Acknowledgments
1 Introduction
Lost Contexts
29 Chapter 1
The Problem of Painting, 1960–64
61 Chapter 2
Real Nonsense, 1964–65
93 Chapter 3
A Paradoxical Situation, 1966–67
131 Chapter 4
It Is Something, It Is Nothing, 1968–69
167 Conclusion
Depth, 1970
173 Notes
185 Illustration Credits
186 Index
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Acknowledgments
The primary subjects of this volume are artists who were committed to spirited
intellectual and creative exchange within a large community of friends and
interlocutors. The families, friends, archivists, galleries, and estates of Eva Hesse
and Sol LeWitt have admirably maintained these values. Helen Hesse Charash’s
vital decision to contribute her sister’s papers to the Allen Memorial Art Museum
at Oberlin College exemplifi es commitment to free intellectual and creative
exchange. The LeWitt Collection’s encouragement and support of scholars does
as well. I would like foremost to thank all the individuals dedicated to maintaining
the intellectual and creative legacies of these artists. Carol LeWitt and Sofi a
LeWitt have provided kind support. The involvement of Barry Rosen of the Eva
Hesse Estate has been crucial, as has the assistance of Sylvia Bandi at Hauser
& Wirth. This is a better book for the detailed knowledge, efforts, and insights of
Janet Passehl at the LeWitt Collection, and I also thank John Paul Lavertu for his
kind assistance as well as for introducing me to pieces from LeWitt’s early work,
and Jacob Ketron for his assistance and wonderful sketches.
The brilliance, rigor, and generosity of Veronica Roberts—as a person,
scholar, curator, and friend—have touched every page of this book. Her outstand-
ing exhibition and catalogue for the Blanton Museum, Converging Lines: Eva
Hesse and Sol LeWitt, has been an inspiration, as was her earlier exhibition
Eva Hesse and Sol LeWitt at the Craig F. Starr Gallery, the occasion of our fi rst
meeting. I am indebted to Veronica in many ways, but as a model of scholarly
openness and exchange most of all. I would also like to thank Veronica and
the Blanton Museum for inviting me to present my research. While in Austin,
I had the opportunity to meet Lucy Lippard, who possesses the intellectual and
creative generosity of her close friends Hesse and LeWitt. She is a hero, and
there simply aren’t words to capture the importance of her contributions to art
criticism and art history since the 1960s.
Ellen Landau has been a mentor throughout my career, and provided
essential commentary and advice throughout this project. Suzanne Hudson read
the manuscript at different stages and offered deeply informed, incisive advice
for which I am very grateful, as well as for her friendship and support. I learned
so much from the committed scholarship of Jonathan D. Katz, my adviser as a
vii
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graduate student at SUNY Stony Brook, and I thank him for maintaining a dialogue
over many years. Also at Stony Brook, Donald Kuspit, Mary Rawlinson, and
Ann Eden Gibson were particularly meaningful fi gures in the formation of ideas
that culminated in this book. When this press published Ann’s book Abstract
Expressionism: Other Politics in 1999, it provided the occasion for a graduate
seminar in which I fi rst delved deeply into the work of Hesse and the aftermath
of Abstract Expressionism.
The Fellows Program at the Smithsonian American Art Museum allowed
the opportunity for prolonged research in the Archives of American Art, and gave
me a cohort of fellows whose dialogue and support have shaped this project. This
book simply could not have been written without the resources of the Smithson-
ian. In particular, I would like to thank Amelia Goerlitz, Virginia Mecklenberg,
Liza Kirwin, and the late Cindy Mills for their kindness and support. The Whitney
Museum of American Art’s Teaching Fellows program also provided an invaluable
community, while immersion in the Whitney’s collection and history was enor-
mously infl uential. The opportunity for exchanges with Elisabeth Sussman while
at the Whitney was important to this project. Elisabeth’s exemplary scholarship
and curatorial work have been an inspiration.
The Dia Art Foundation, the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art
at the Brooklyn Museum, and Bard College Center for Curatorial Studies gave me
opportunities to develop and present research related to this book at later stages.
I would also like to thank the following individuals for their generous contributions
and involvement: Allison Geremia, for her help gathering permissions; Lucille Stiger
and Selina Bartlett at the Eva Hesse Archives at Oberlin College; Virginia Dwan and
the staff of the Dwan Gallery Archives; Jane and Tom Doyle; Grace Wapner; Ethelyn
Honig; Jo Watanabe; Kathryn Potts and Anita Duquette at the Whitney Museum;
Kathryn Gile at Alexander and Bonin; Michael Todd; Alvin Holm; Amethyst Beaver.
I would like to acknowledge the intellectual and creative support of Eri King, James
Lawrence, Alexandra Schwartz, John Russon, E. Luanne McKinnon, Catherine
Borg, Stephen Hendee, Wendy Kveck, Louisa McDonald, Helga Watkins, Mary
Warner, Erin Stellmon, David Sanchez-Burr, Danielle Kelly, and my former students
in the Art Department of the University of Nevada. My Boston-area colleagues and
friends Nuit Banai, Jessica May, and Arthur Fournier helped my family and me feel
at home here and sustained me during the writing of this book.
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The support of a sabbatical was critical to completing this project,
and I thank the administration and faculty of the University of Massachusetts,
Lowell, for their support and collegiality, as well as the excellent students in the
Art Department.
It has been a great privilege to work with the staff of Yale University
Press. Katherine Boller and Patricia Fidler encouraged the writing of this book at
an early stage, and I am grateful for their involvement. Katherine has offered
critical advice and encouragement throughout the process. Tamara Schechter
has been an expert guide. Amy Canonico and Heidi Downey have provided key
support and advice. Linda Truilo copyedited the manuscript with an expert hand.
I am grateful to the anonymous readers whose comments and advice have made
this a better book.
My family has given more than is possible to state. I am deeply grateful
to my mother, Elizabeth Swenson. None of this would have been possible
without the patience, love, and help of my husband, Stephen Shapinsky. This
book is dedicated to our daughters, Ingrid and Kaja.
ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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