Beschreibung:

Donald Judd Untitled 1969 Brass. 6 x 27 x 24 in. (15.2 x 68.6 x 61 cm). This work is from an edition of three.
Provenance Leo Castelli Gallery, New York; Dayton’s Gallery 12, Minneapolis; Collection Jane Holzer, New York; Collection Armand Bartos New York; Collection Jan Eric Lowenadler, New York; Private collection, Los Angeles Literature D. Del Balso, R. Smith and B. Smith, Donald Judd Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings and Objects, 1960-1974, Ottawa, 1975, cat. no. 162, p. 186 Catalogue Essay In 1964 Donald Judd abandoned painting for the minimalist free-standing and wall relief sculptures that served as devoted subject during his artistic career. The present lot, Untitled from 1969 takes its form from a work Judd first designed in 1965 which served as his prototype for the galvanized metal box with ninety degree edges. This simple rectangle, standing projected from the wall-mounted display and rendered in differing soft metal alloys, influenced his artwork in countless ways. For the artist made certain claims to his artwork, many of which have been published as statements of critical theory, and confronted the limits traditional painting has in capturing the essence of the rectangular shape, thereby justifying his departure from painting to the medium of sculpture. Describing these implications, Judd wrote, “The main thing wrong with painting is that it is a rectangular plane placed flat against the wall. A rectangle is a shape itself; it is obviously the whole shape; it determines and limits the arrangement of whatever is on or inside of it. In work before 1946 the edges of the rectangle are a boundary, the end of the picture. The composition must react to the edges and the rectangle must be unified, but the shape of the rectangle is not stressed; the parts are more important, and the relationships of color and form occur among them. In the paintings of Pollock, Rothko, Still and Newman, and more recently of Reinhardt and Noland, the rectangle is emphasized. The elements inside the rectangle are broad and simple and correspond closely to the rectangle. The shapes and surface are only those which can occur plausibly within and on a rectangular plane. The parts are few and so subordinate to the unity as not to be parts in an ordinary sense. A painting is nearly an entity, one thing, and not the indefinable sum of a group of entities and references. The one thing overpowers the earlier painting. It also establishes the rectangle as a definite form: it is no longer a fairly neutral limit. A form can be used only in so many ways. The rectangular plane is given a life span. The simplicity required to emphasize the rectangle limits the arrangements possible within it. The sense of singleness also has duration, but it is only beginning and has a better future outside of painting.” (D. Judd, “Specific Objects”, Complete Writings 1959-1975, Halifax, 1975). Read More Artist Bio Donald Judd American • 1928 - 1994 Donald Judd was an American artist known for large-scale minimalistic sculptures, which he personally referred to as "specific objects." Though associated with Minimalism, Judd did not wish to be confined to this categorization and felt that his work was more complex. He utilized industrial materials and demonstrated the way in which they interacted with their surroundings, an effect he felt was more powerful than flat oil on canvas. Judd was more interested in the spacing of his pieces and the way viewers would interpret them than the importance of the pieces themselves. Inspired by architecture, the artist designed and produced his own furniture, predominantly in wood, and eventually hired a diverse team of carpenters late in his career. View More Works