Judd, Donald (1928-1994), was an American sculptor, art critic, and designer associated with the Minimalism movement. Minimalism is a style in the arts that developed during the 1960’s in the United States, especially New York City. Like other Minimalist artists, Judd’s works did not include recognizable images or narrative (storytelling) elements. He insisted that his sculptures contained no meaning beyond the existence of the actual object.
Judd began his art career as a painter before turning exclusively to sculpture in 1962. He initially worked primarily in wood. His first sculptures were reliefs painted in a single color. About 1963, he created free-standing boxes, open frames, and sculptures made of wood and pipe, all with interiors visible to the viewer.
Beginning in the mid-1960’s, Judd created his best-known works—arrangements of identical rectangular boxlike forms. The forms were projected in a ladderlike style from walls in mathematically determined intervals. Some of the sculptures consisted of a boxlike structure placed on the floor. Many were composed of colored plexiglass to allow the viewer to see into and through the work. Judd turned to such industrial materials as aluminum, galvanized iron, and plexiglass, often painted in strong colors. These sculptures were manufactured in factories to his designs. Many of Judd’s sculptures, both indoor and outdoor works, were created for a specific site.
Donald Clarence Judd was born on June 3, 1928, in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. He received a B.A. degree in philosophy from Columbia University in 1953 and an M.A. from Columbia in art history in 1962. Judd worked as an art critic from 1959 to 1965. Later in his career, he designed furniture. Collections of Judd’s art criticism appear in Complete Writings, 1959-1975 (1975) and Complete Writings, 1975-1986 (1987). Judd died on Feb. 12, 1994.
See also Minimalism .
