Donald Judd made works informally referred to as single stacks comprised of a rectangular prism measuring 6 x 27 x 24 inches. When properly installed at roughly eye level, the work projects from the wall at four times the height of the object itself.  Simple in form, a single stack not only encloses the actual space lying within, but simultaneously activates the surrounding area: the wall upon which the object is placed or the entire room within which it is situated. In a note from February 21, 1993 Judd wrote “The smallest, simplest work creates space around it, since there is so much space within.”¹

This galvanized single stack is among ten works having the same form, material and configuration first made by Judd in 1965.  While they constitute a group of works by virtue of shared physical characteristics, Judd considered each of these objects to be unique. The early provenance of this particular work is unverified.  Judd Foundation Archives suggest that it may be a remake of the first example of the ten that was damaged.   It appears that this particular work was intended for sale to Lisson Gallery, London. The work is stamped 9-23-76 on the reverse.²

¹ Donald Judd, “21 February 1993”, in Donald Judd Writings, ed. Flavin Judd and Caitlin Murray (New York: Judd Foundation and David Zwirner Books, 2016), 811.

² Museum and Gallery Files, Judd Foundation Archives, Marfa, Texas.