Untitled, 1965 | Judd Foundation

Permanently installed in the south room of the west building at the Block, this work was made with brass plates provided by Bernstein Brothers Sheet Metal Specialties, Inc.—a sheet metal shop in New York that Donald Judd worked with for much of his life—and wood elements fabricated by Judd’s father, Roy C. Judd. In 1985, Judd wrote, “The installation of the south room took about a year and was the basis for the room of old pieces in the exhibition I had in 1975 at the National Gallery of Canada.”¹

The top of this work, wrote David Raskin, “makes six roundtrips from recessed to flush” in the form of ridged wooden sections painted with red enamel.² The size of this and other floor pieces from this period was particular, per Judd: “If they were any larger they would have been too gross or monumental. They have to look static, without movement.”³ Although Judd made many works in solely brass or wood, this is his only piece that combines the two materials.

¹Donald Judd, “Marfa, Texas” (1985), in Donald Judd Writings, ed. Flavin Judd and Caitlin Murray (New York: Judd Foundation and David Zwirner Books, 2016), 428.

² David Raskin, Donald Judd (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2010), 58.

³“Don Judd: An Interview with John Coplans,” in John Coplans, Don Judd, exh. cat. (Pasadena, CA: Pasadena Art Museum, 1971), 41.

Selected Bibliography

Bochner, Mel. “The Serial Attitude.” Artforum, December 1967, 32 (ill.).

Smith, Brydon, ed. Donald Judd: Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, Objects, and Wood-Blocks 1960–1974. Exh. cat. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1975, 123 (DSS cat. no. 57).

Donald Judd: Räume / Spaces. Ostfildern: Cantz, 1993, 44.

Kellein, Thomas. Donald Judd. Early Work 1955–1968. Exh. cat. New York: D.A.P., 2002, 127 (ill.), 155.

Raskin, David. Donald Judd. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2010, 14 (fig. 8), 58, 59 (fig. 68).

Judd, Donald. Donald Judd Writings. Ed. Flavin Judd and Caitlin Murray. New York: Judd Foundation and David Zwirner Books, 2016, 943 (image 101).

1 Donald Judd, “Marfa, Texas” (1985), in Donald Judd Writings, ed. Flavin Judd and Caitlin Murray (New York: Judd Foundation and David Zwirner Books, 2016), 428.

2 David Raskin, Donald Judd (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2010), 58.

3 “Don Judd: An Interview with John Coplans,” in John Coplans, Don Judd, exh. cat. (Pasadena, CA: Pasadena Art Museum, 1971), 41.

Selected Bibliography

¹Donald Judd, “Marfa, Texas” (1985), in Donald Judd Writings, ed. Flavin Judd and Caitlin Murray (New York: Judd Foundation and David Zwirner Books, 2016), 428.

² David Raskin, Donald Judd (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2010), 58.

³“Don Judd: An Interview with John Coplans,” in John Coplans, Don Judd, exh. cat. (Pasadena, CA: Pasadena Art Museum, 1971), 41.