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Lot Essay
'Three dimensions are real space. That gets rid of the problem of illusionism and of literal space, space in and around marks and colors-which is riddance of one of the salient and most objectionable relics of European art. A work can be as powerful as it can be thought to be. Actual space is intrinsically more powerful and specific than paint on a flat surface' (D. Judd, 'Specific Objects,' Arts Yearbook 8 (1965), reprinted in Donald Judd: Complete Writings 1959-1975, Halifax 1975, p. 184).
The rich, luxurious form of Donald Judd's Untitled (DSS132) embodies all the qualities that have singled the artist out as one of the leading forces of late twentieth-century art. The graceful curves, fabricated out of galvanised iron (one of Judd's favourite materials) and covered in a diaphanous layer of purple lacquer, clearly demonstrates Judd's interest in material, form and colour. The beauty of its curvaceous form and the purity of its chromatic intensity belie its industrial material and near scientific fabrication. With Untitled (DSS132) Judd presents us with the purest form of his aesthetic and focuses our attention on the relationship that the form has on the space around it, and therefore, ultimately, on the viewer.
Distinguished by the crisp precision and eloquence that is discernible in much of his oeuvre, Untitled (DSS132) is a spectacular example of one of Donald Judd's most successful and elegant forms. Judd first conceived the format of the curved bullnose progression in 1964 and the origins of this particular series can be found in a work from 1962 where Judd set a section of iron pipe cut in half horizontally into a large red box. The same principle is visible here, except it is rendered in the form of a negative. Transformed into the idea of a progression, in which solid form and empty space alternate and interact according to a precise mathematical sequence, Judd transfers this simple spatial play into a majestic relief form.
Initially a painter, Judd felt constrained by the limitation of the canvas hung flush against a wall. Gradually, he grew out from this surface and into the third-dimension. Although he continued to create works with the wall in mind, these by definition go beyond traditional genres. As he stated: 'Low and high relief are basically painting, possessing the same problems, as well as some of their own' (D. Judd, quoted in N. Serota (ed.), Donald Judd, exh. cat., Tate London, 2004, p. 188). Projecting out from the flat plane of the wall, the curved forms of Untitled (DSS132) articulate a three-dimensional spatial play. It was Judd's hope, first developed in this form of his Progressions and later in his Stacks, that the articulation of the contrast between the flat plane of the wall and the relief of the work would itself, depending on its placement, invoke a wider understanding of the entire architecture of the space into which it was set. As Judd averred: 'Three dimensions are real space. That gets rid of the problem of illusionism and of literal space, space in and around marks and colors - which is riddance of one of the salient and most objectionable relics of European art. A work can be as powerful as it can be thought to be. Actual space is intrinsically more powerful and specific than paint on a flat surface' (D. Judd, 'Specific Objects,' Arts Yearbook 8 (1965), reprinted in Donald Judd: Complete Writings 1959-1975, Halifax 1975, p. 184).
The rich, luxurious form of Donald Judd's Untitled (DSS132) embodies all the qualities that have singled the artist out as one of the leading forces of late twentieth-century art. The graceful curves, fabricated out of galvanised iron (one of Judd's favourite materials) and covered in a diaphanous layer of purple lacquer, clearly demonstrates Judd's interest in material, form and colour. The beauty of its curvaceous form and the purity of its chromatic intensity belie its industrial material and near scientific fabrication. With Untitled (DSS132) Judd presents us with the purest form of his aesthetic and focuses our attention on the relationship that the form has on the space around it, and therefore, ultimately, on the viewer.
Distinguished by the crisp precision and eloquence that is discernible in much of his oeuvre, Untitled (DSS132) is a spectacular example of one of Donald Judd's most successful and elegant forms. Judd first conceived the format of the curved bullnose progression in 1964 and the origins of this particular series can be found in a work from 1962 where Judd set a section of iron pipe cut in half horizontally into a large red box. The same principle is visible here, except it is rendered in the form of a negative. Transformed into the idea of a progression, in which solid form and empty space alternate and interact according to a precise mathematical sequence, Judd transfers this simple spatial play into a majestic relief form.
Initially a painter, Judd felt constrained by the limitation of the canvas hung flush against a wall. Gradually, he grew out from this surface and into the third-dimension. Although he continued to create works with the wall in mind, these by definition go beyond traditional genres. As he stated: 'Low and high relief are basically painting, possessing the same problems, as well as some of their own' (D. Judd, quoted in N. Serota (ed.), Donald Judd, exh. cat., Tate London, 2004, p. 188). Projecting out from the flat plane of the wall, the curved forms of Untitled (DSS132) articulate a three-dimensional spatial play. It was Judd's hope, first developed in this form of his Progressions and later in his Stacks, that the articulation of the contrast between the flat plane of the wall and the relief of the work would itself, depending on its placement, invoke a wider understanding of the entire architecture of the space into which it was set. As Judd averred: 'Three dimensions are real space. That gets rid of the problem of illusionism and of literal space, space in and around marks and colors - which is riddance of one of the salient and most objectionable relics of European art. A work can be as powerful as it can be thought to be. Actual space is intrinsically more powerful and specific than paint on a flat surface' (D. Judd, 'Specific Objects,' Arts Yearbook 8 (1965), reprinted in Donald Judd: Complete Writings 1959-1975, Halifax 1975, p. 184).