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Lot Essay
Donald Judd was an American artist and sculptor associated with the Minimalist movement. While he is primarily known for his three-dimensional works, Judd was also a skilled printmaker, creating over 300 works from 1951 to 1993.
Judd's graphic work shares many of the same formal qualities as his sculpture, such as an emphasis on clean lines, geometric shapes, and an overall sense of order and clarity. His designs often feature bold, simple typography and use a limited color palette, typically black, white, and a single accent color. They are notable for their spatial arrangements, with carefully considered negative space and a precise placement of graphic elements. He experimented with various printing techniques, including screen-printing, lithography, and etching, to achieve different textures and effects.
This sale contains a considered selection of Judd's graphic work from 1960 to 1993, showing his mastery of both aquatint and woodcut – in two instances (lots 122 and 123) this is paired to great effect with hand-coloring, the free-flowing, gestural marks made by the brush contrasting with the flat, undifferentiated areas of color produced by the woodblock. Together the nine lots in this sale epitomize Judd’s approach, one that is characterized by its rigorous attention to detail, formal simplicity, and conceptual clarity, all of which reflect his broader artistic philosophy of emphasizing the viewer's perceptual experience.
Judd's graphic work shares many of the same formal qualities as his sculpture, such as an emphasis on clean lines, geometric shapes, and an overall sense of order and clarity. His designs often feature bold, simple typography and use a limited color palette, typically black, white, and a single accent color. They are notable for their spatial arrangements, with carefully considered negative space and a precise placement of graphic elements. He experimented with various printing techniques, including screen-printing, lithography, and etching, to achieve different textures and effects.
This sale contains a considered selection of Judd's graphic work from 1960 to 1993, showing his mastery of both aquatint and woodcut – in two instances (lots 122 and 123) this is paired to great effect with hand-coloring, the free-flowing, gestural marks made by the brush contrasting with the flat, undifferentiated areas of color produced by the woodblock. Together the nine lots in this sale epitomize Judd’s approach, one that is characterized by its rigorous attention to detail, formal simplicity, and conceptual clarity, all of which reflect his broader artistic philosophy of emphasizing the viewer's perceptual experience.