Donald Judd (1928-1994)

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Donald Judd became a seminal force in sculpture in the early 1960s with a group of floor-based structures that eliminated ambiguity and ornamentation in favor of essential geometries and the straightforward presentation of color, materials, and shape. Pared down to elemental, geometric forms, they were seen at the time as the culmination of the modernist reduction of each medium to its essential characteristics. In retrospect, the formal developments in Judd's work can be seen as reflecting his conviction that art has an ethical responsibility to accord with the limits of what can be empirically known to be true. Along with Dan Flavin, Frank Stella, Carl Andre, and Robert Morris, these artists were using industrial materials to make works largely fabricated by others, so were therefore synonymous with Minimalism, although Judd rejected this classification.

In the 1970s, Judd set out to create a self-contained working, living, and exhibition complex in Marfa, Texas. He renovated existing buildings and erected new ones.  He created his own furniture, gardens, pools, and exhibition spaces in which to permanently install his own work and that of other artists.  

Adapted from
DMA unpublished material, 1989.

NOTES

ASSOCIATED CONTENT CHUNKS

AUDIO ASSETS 

VIDEO ASSETS  

IMAGE ASSETS 

WEB RESOURCES 
Donald Judd Foundation~Read a Donald Judd biography and explore the Donald Judd Foundation website.

ARCHIVAL RESOURCES (digitized/non-digitized)

FUN FACTS 

TEACHING IDEAS 

RULES
set operator as OR
apply to objects where constituent_id equals 3014
apply to constituents where id equals 3014
rules_operator
OR
General Description
Donald Judd became a seminal force in sculpture in the early 1960s with a group of floor-based structures that eliminated ambiguity and ornamentation in favor of essential geometries and the straightforward presentation of color, materials, and shape. Pared down to elemental, geometric forms, they were seen at the time as the culmination of the modernist reduction of each medium to its essential characteristics. In retrospect, the formal developments in Judd's work can be seen as reflecting his conviction that art has an ethical responsibility to accord with the limits of what can be empirically known to be true. Along with Dan Flavin, Frank Stella, Carl Andre, and Robert Morris, these artists were using industrial materials to make works largely fabricated by others, so were therefore synonymous with Minimalism, although Judd rejected this classification.

In the 1970s, Judd set out to create a self-contained working, living, and exhibition complex in Marfa, Texas. He renovated existing buildings and erected new ones.  He created his own furniture, gardens, pools, and exhibition spaces in which to permanently install his own work and that of other artists.  

Adapted from
DMA unpublished material, 1989.

Fun Facts
 
Archival Resources
(digitized/non-digitized)
Web Resources
 
Donald Judd Foundation~Read a Donald Judd biography and explore the Donald Judd Foundation website.

Notes

rules
Apply To
Constituents
id
Equals
3014
tags
#draft
#completed
%copyedited_Gail
@Bowling
*Contemporary Art
furniture: AAT: 300037680
industrial design: AAT: 300054183
Judd_Donald: ULAN: 500010358
Minimalism (post-1945 style): AAT: 300065758
furniture designers: AAT: 300386292
Minimal: AAT: 300065758
Marfa: TGN: 7013999
source file
artists_and_designers-0061.xml.nores