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Lot Essay
Constructed from two painted wooden panels set at a right angle and connected by a bent metal pipe originally found at a hardware store, Untitled (DSS # 33) is one of the earliest free-standing forms conceived by Donald Judd, its creation opened the floodgates to new possibilities for the artist in the development of his ideas in three-dimensions. First made in 1962, this rare work developed from a series of two-dimensional paintings incorporating found objects that Judd inserted into the flat picture plane to add actual, not illusionary, depth.
Following Judd's notion of an object whose composition and form were based solely to its own inherent properties, the length of the real pipe in Untitled (DSS # 33) was used to define the structure and scale of the work. The ends of the pipe were centered into the two wooden panels, thus determining the height and width of each panel. The work was not placed on a pedestal like traditional sculpture, but rather directly on the floor.
Judd recalled the conception of the work in an interview with John Coplans in 1971: "First, I did the pipe relief and kept it on the floor. It was a big thing when sitting on the floor. I left it on the floor, and that didn't bother it much. It was meant to go on the wall, but it looked all right on the floor A piece that was completely three-dimensional was a big event for me" (Don Judd: An Interview with John Coplans, Don Judd, exh. cat., Pasadena Art Museum 1971, p.30). Judd admitted that he was at first perplexed by the work he had made: "I didn't quite know what to make of it," he explained, "they suddenly seemed to have an enormous number of possibilities. It looked at that point and from then on that I could do anything. Anyway, I certainly didn't think that I was making sculpture" (Ibid, p.30).
Judd was particularly excited by the use of a right angle to create a space without enclosing it. "There is scarcely an inside and an outside, only the space within the angle and the space beyond the angle. The only enclosed space is within the pipe. This linear space determines the dimensions of the broad planes. The shell of this narrow space passes through the breadth of the inner angle, a definite space through a general space" (D. Judd, Some Aspects of Color in General and Red and Black in Particular, Sassenheim 1993, p.11).
This work would remain crucial to Donald Judd's own understanding of his development as an artist. He would make three examples of the object. The 1962 example is owned by the Kunstmuseum in Basel, Switzerland. In 1975, Judd made a second example of the work for his major retrospective at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. This example is now part of the permanent installation of Judd's work at Marfa, Texas. The present Lot was made in 1988 for Judd's retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. It was also a highlight of his retrospective in 2004 at Tate Modern in London. It is the only example of this important work that will ever be available for sale.
Following Judd's notion of an object whose composition and form were based solely to its own inherent properties, the length of the real pipe in Untitled (DSS # 33) was used to define the structure and scale of the work. The ends of the pipe were centered into the two wooden panels, thus determining the height and width of each panel. The work was not placed on a pedestal like traditional sculpture, but rather directly on the floor.
Judd recalled the conception of the work in an interview with John Coplans in 1971: "First, I did the pipe relief and kept it on the floor. It was a big thing when sitting on the floor. I left it on the floor, and that didn't bother it much. It was meant to go on the wall, but it looked all right on the floor A piece that was completely three-dimensional was a big event for me" (Don Judd: An Interview with John Coplans, Don Judd, exh. cat., Pasadena Art Museum 1971, p.30). Judd admitted that he was at first perplexed by the work he had made: "I didn't quite know what to make of it," he explained, "they suddenly seemed to have an enormous number of possibilities. It looked at that point and from then on that I could do anything. Anyway, I certainly didn't think that I was making sculpture" (Ibid, p.30).
Judd was particularly excited by the use of a right angle to create a space without enclosing it. "There is scarcely an inside and an outside, only the space within the angle and the space beyond the angle. The only enclosed space is within the pipe. This linear space determines the dimensions of the broad planes. The shell of this narrow space passes through the breadth of the inner angle, a definite space through a general space" (D. Judd, Some Aspects of Color in General and Red and Black in Particular, Sassenheim 1993, p.11).
This work would remain crucial to Donald Judd's own understanding of his development as an artist. He would make three examples of the object. The 1962 example is owned by the Kunstmuseum in Basel, Switzerland. In 1975, Judd made a second example of the work for his major retrospective at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. This example is now part of the permanent installation of Judd's work at Marfa, Texas. The present Lot was made in 1988 for Judd's retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. It was also a highlight of his retrospective in 2004 at Tate Modern in London. It is the only example of this important work that will ever be available for sale.