Donald Clarence Judd (1928 – 1994)
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Donald Judd was an American Artist associated with the Minimalist movement, despite the fact that he did not like the term ‘minimalism’. Judd was born in Exelsior Springs, Missouri, where he remained, working as a military engineer, from 1946 to 1947. By 1948, Judd decided to study philosophy, first enrolling at the College of William and Mary and later at Columbia University in New York City. Judd earned his philosophy degree from Columbia and continued on to study art history at a postgraduate level. While working towards academic degrees, Judd began to attend fine art classes at the Art Students League of New York.
Judd was able to support himself by writing art criticism for important art publications, distributed across the United States. Judd held his first solo exhibition in 1957, displaying a series of expressionist paintings. After this point, Judd began to change his style and focus on constructions made out of wood, metal and Plexiglas. When Judd had his next solo show in 1963, he showed a number of his constructions. Judd did not like to call his pieces paintings or sculptures, as they were made out of industrial materials. In 1966, Judd had another exhibit entitled
, which was held at the Jewish Museum of New York. The exhibition included a critical panel that discussed Judd’s contemporary practices.
In 1968, the Whitney Museum of American Art held a retrospective of Judd’s work, reaffirming Judd’s quick success. The same year Judd was able to purchase a five-story building in New York City. The building space allowed Judd to create installations and permanently install his pieces with some distance from external art institutions.
To escape from New York, Judd began travelling with his family to Baja, California and Marfa, Texas. Judd felt greatly inspired by the open spaces that he missed living in the city and decided to purchase several buildings in Texas with help from the Dia Art Foundation, including a ranch on the Chinati Hot Springs. On his Texas land, Judd was able to start the Chinati Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the arts. The permanent collection in Texas included Judd’s contemporaries, including Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, John Chamberlain, Richard Long and Claes Oldenburg. When Judd was not in Texas or New York, he gave guest lectures at international universities and art centers.
In 1994, Judd died in New York City of lymphoma. Since his death, Judd’s foundation has continued to preserve his work, and he is now remembered as an important figure in American Art. Do you think you own a piece by Donald Judd? Contact us. We are the Donald Judd experts.