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Lot Essay
“Plexiglas exposes the interior, so the volume is opened up. It is fairly logical to open it up so the interior can be viewed. It makes it less mysterious, less ambiguous.” (D. Judd quoted in J. Coplans, Don Judd, exh. cat., Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena, 1971, pp. 36-37)
Constructed of rich yellow toned brass and dark bronze acrylic sheets, Untitled (DSS 170) is one of Donald Judd’s iconic wall pieces, which emulate the purity of objects instead of any symbolic or emotional meaning. The flawless and smooth appearance of the materials adds to the placid stillness of the piece and bring an air of constructed or architectural composition. In regards to this architectural tendency, curator Marianne Strockebrand explains, “If we consider his development from a painter to an object maker/architect, and if we consider how much of the painter is perceptible in his objects and vice versa, Judd’s refusal to call his objects 'sculptures' makes all the more sense. His work is closer to an architectural conception of space and the color obsessions of painting than it is to the volumetric articulations of sculpture” (M. Strockebrand, Donald Judd: The Multicolored Works, 2014, p. 10).
Mounted onto a wall, elevated well above the ground, Untitled (DSS 170) appears both heavy and weightless. The brass and bronze on what can be called the sides of the piece bring a solid and antiquated air to it, while the inclusion of the Plexiglas at the top and bottom bring a modern industrial feel. Material and color were not the only significant factor in Judd’s work, he found importance in the materials’ interaction with space, an interaction that he felt people often neglected. Judd was also attentive to the interaction of his work with the audience. Judd explained, “Material, space and color are the main aspects of visual art. Everyone knows that there is material that can be picked up and sold, but no one sees space and color” (D. Judd, “Some Aspects of Color and Red and black in Particular,” Donald Judd: The Multicolored Works, 2014, p. 264).
Untitled (DSS 170) was executed in 1969, two years following Judd’s major retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art. In 1967, Judd also purchased an entire five story building in the SoHo neighborhood of New York that he used as both his residence and studio. This large and private space allowed Judd to focus on his own artistic ideologies, mainly his practice of extreme visual reduction and his emphasis on the relation of his works with the viewer. Judd’s fixation on spatial importance and permanence of his work in a temporal life were probably influenced from his time studying philosophy at Columbia University. With space, form and color informing and complimenting the structural makeup of Judd's work, "what lingers on is almost a motionless apparition—of surface and color only, and reflected light, glow, shadows. That is, I believe, when a piece becomes real—and beautiful" (D. Judd, quoted in Donald Judd, exh. cat., Pace Wildenstein, New York, 2004, p. 8).
Constructed of rich yellow toned brass and dark bronze acrylic sheets, Untitled (DSS 170) is one of Donald Judd’s iconic wall pieces, which emulate the purity of objects instead of any symbolic or emotional meaning. The flawless and smooth appearance of the materials adds to the placid stillness of the piece and bring an air of constructed or architectural composition. In regards to this architectural tendency, curator Marianne Strockebrand explains, “If we consider his development from a painter to an object maker/architect, and if we consider how much of the painter is perceptible in his objects and vice versa, Judd’s refusal to call his objects 'sculptures' makes all the more sense. His work is closer to an architectural conception of space and the color obsessions of painting than it is to the volumetric articulations of sculpture” (M. Strockebrand, Donald Judd: The Multicolored Works, 2014, p. 10).
Mounted onto a wall, elevated well above the ground, Untitled (DSS 170) appears both heavy and weightless. The brass and bronze on what can be called the sides of the piece bring a solid and antiquated air to it, while the inclusion of the Plexiglas at the top and bottom bring a modern industrial feel. Material and color were not the only significant factor in Judd’s work, he found importance in the materials’ interaction with space, an interaction that he felt people often neglected. Judd was also attentive to the interaction of his work with the audience. Judd explained, “Material, space and color are the main aspects of visual art. Everyone knows that there is material that can be picked up and sold, but no one sees space and color” (D. Judd, “Some Aspects of Color and Red and black in Particular,” Donald Judd: The Multicolored Works, 2014, p. 264).
Untitled (DSS 170) was executed in 1969, two years following Judd’s major retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art. In 1967, Judd also purchased an entire five story building in the SoHo neighborhood of New York that he used as both his residence and studio. This large and private space allowed Judd to focus on his own artistic ideologies, mainly his practice of extreme visual reduction and his emphasis on the relation of his works with the viewer. Judd’s fixation on spatial importance and permanence of his work in a temporal life were probably influenced from his time studying philosophy at Columbia University. With space, form and color informing and complimenting the structural makeup of Judd's work, "what lingers on is almost a motionless apparition—of surface and color only, and reflected light, glow, shadows. That is, I believe, when a piece becomes real—and beautiful" (D. Judd, quoted in Donald Judd, exh. cat., Pace Wildenstein, New York, 2004, p. 8).