Eva Hesse | American artist
Born into a German Jewish family, Hesse was about three years old when her parents left their extended family behind and fled the Nazi regime, arriving in New York City in 1939. Her parents divorced in 1945, and her mother committed suicide a year later. Despite her traumatic and tragic early life, Hesse was an accomplished student. As an adolescent, she already wanted to pursue art, and she attended the School of Industrial Art (now the High School of Art and Design). She went on to study at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn (from September 1952 to December 1953), Cooper Union (1954–57), and...