Eva Hesse “Ringaround Arosie,” 1965, pencil, acetone, varnish, enamel paint, ink, and cloth-covered electrical wire on papier-mâché and Masonite

Credit…Estate of Eva Hesse and Hauser & Wirth/Licensed by SCALA and Art Resource, NY; Museum of Modern Art.

“Ringaround Arosie” conveys all there is to say about the paradox of erotic abstraction and the way female artists imbue the idiom with a pulsating humanity. — Daphne Merkin