  About the Artwork
  
  
  Eva Hesse was an influential artist of the postminimalist movement that began in the late 1960s. Incorporating the minimalist principles of reduced geometric forms and grid patterns as her foundation, she felt unsatisfied by their rigid masculine forms and sought out more flexible materials for greater expressive content. Because women were having difficulty being accepted in the art world, Hesse struggled to reconcile what she felt to be her two opposing identities, the one as an artist, the other as a woman.
The result is the simple cube form with a systematic grid on the outside with a controlled and fixed appearance, while on the inside the tubing allows gravity and chance to pull it in different directions. This became a highly charged work for Hesse, symbolizing the detached state she maintained on the exterior in contrast with her chaotic feelings inside.
  
  
  Title
  Accession II
  
  
  Artwork Date
  1969
  
  Artist
  Eva Hesse
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  1936-1970
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  American
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
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  Medium
  Galvanized steel and vinyl
  
  
  Dimensions
  Overall: 30 3/4 × 30 3/4 × 30 3/4 inches (78.1 × 78.1 × 78.1 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Sculpture
  
  
  Department
  Contemporary Art after 1950
  
  
  Credit
  Founders Society Purchase, Friends of Modern Art Fund and Miscellaneous Gifts Fund
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  79.34
  
  
  Copyright
  Non-commercial all standard museum
