Donald Judd: The Early Works 1955-1968

by Donald Judd

Like no other sculptor today, Donald Judd has informed our understanding of art and its relationship to space. The Panoramas Gallery organized his first solo exhibition in 1957, at a time in which he was still focused on painting, yet moving from the flat picture plane towards the third dimension. His cadmium red pictures cut through with stripes or incisions led the viewer to perceive space as self-evident. From there Judd moved toward a complete abandonment of painting, recognizing, in the early 60s, that "actual space is intrinsically more powerful and specific than paint on a flat surface." His switch from painting to sculpture was coincident with a growing interest in architecture and in industrial processes and materials, such as galvanized steel, concrete, plywood, and aluminum, which he used to create large, hollow, Minimalist sculptures. Documented here for the first time is this very crucial development, from the early work of the 1950s to 1968, the point at which Judd's artistic vocabulary reached its complete formation. Numerous works, including previously unrecorded paintings, sculptures, sketches, and works on paper, appear here alongside unpublished documents and texts by Judd himself.

Genres: Art

184 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 2002

Reviews

[Adam Grossi · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those curious about the artistic trajectory of Donald Judd, this is a very interesting book. It's thin on text and heavy on beautiful reproductions of his work; the text that it does present is succinct and informative. Judd's work transmogrifies over the course of the 13 years in question from figurative painting to his seminal "specific objects." Watching the transformation in images, and following his biographical narrative along with them, is fascinating.

The book also includes the famous essay "Specific Objects" which helped to put some language to what Judd was up to.

I'm not sold on Judd's philosophy, but I found this book to be very helpful in explaining just where and how his work stands in relation to the canonized American art of his era.