↳ Exhibitions

Judd at MoMA

January 6, 2021

Artist: Donald Judd

Exhibition title: Judd

Venue: MoMA, New York, US

Date: March 1, 2020 – January 9, 2021

Photography: ©MoMA , all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and MoMA, New York

THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART PRESENTS FIRST US RETROSPECTIVE IN 30 YEARS DEDICATED TO DONALD JUDD

Judd

The Steven and Alexandra Cohen Center for Special Exhibitions, Floor Six March 1–July 11, 2020

NEW YORK, February 4, 2020 —The Museum of Modern Art’s exhibition Judd, on view in the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Center for Special Exhibitions in the David and Peggy Rockefeller Building from March 1 through July 11, 2020, is the first major US retrospective dedicated to the work of Donald Judd (1928–1994) in over three decades. Presented solely at MoMA, the exhibition explores the remarkable vision of an artist who revolutionized the history of sculpture, highlighting the full scope of Judd’s career through 70 works in sculpture, painting, drawing, and prints, from public and private collections in the US and abroad. Judd is organized by Ann Temkin, The Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture, with Yasmil Raymond, former Associate Curator; Tamar Margalit, Curatorial Assistant; and Erica Cooke, Research Fellow, Department of Painting and Sculpture, MoMA.

Donald Judd was among a generation of artists in the 1960s who sought to entirely do away with illusion, narrative, and metaphorical content. He turned to three dimensions as well as industrial working methods and materials in order to investigate “real space,” by his definition.

“Half a century after Judd established himself as a leading figure of his time, there remains a great deal to discover,” said Temkin. “MoMA’s presentation covers the full arc of his career, aiming to reveal its largely unexpected variety and complexity.”

“We commend the leadership of MoMA, Ann Temkin, and her team for their in-depth research and their substantial commitment toward this significant exhibition. Don’s work remains as vital today as it was when he created it. We appreciate MoMA providing the opportunity for a new generation to engage with his work in New York,” said Rainer Judd, President, Judd Foundation.

Judd will be the first full-scale introduction to the artist’s career for many viewers (including a generation born since his last American retrospective in 1988). It will be organized in chronological order to demonstrate an artistic vision that developed in both methodical and utterly unpredictable ways.

The exhibition begins with a wide selection of paintings, objects, drawings, and prints from the early 1960s, bringing the viewer along on the step-by-step journey that led from paintings to works that were fully three-dimensional. In the mid-1960s, Judd created a fundamental vocabulary of works in three dimensions, including hollow boxes, stacks, and progressions made with metals and plastics by commercial fabricators. These are represented with the inclusion of their early—or even first—manifestations as well as significant ideas that were carried out in a few pieces and then laid aside. The 1970s gallery presents important changes to the work that in part reflect that Judd was re-centering his practice in Marfa, Texas, and working on site-specific pieces elsewhere. His experimentation extended to new levels of scale and types of structure, as well as to the introduction of plywood as a key material. The exhibition’s final gallery presents the aspect of Judd’s career least familiar to American viewers: the works from his last decade, mostly fabricated in Europe, whose chromatic and material exuberance emphatically contradicts the “Minimalist” label that Judd had always rejected.

Judd’s activity extended far beyond the realm of making works of art. He was a prolific art critic and essayist, deeply committed to democratic and environmental causes, and active in the fields of architecture and design. A “reading room” outside the exhibition entrance will feature Judd-designed furniture. Visitors will be invited to use the furniture and browse the exhibition catalogue, several key books on Judd’s work, and the artist’s own writings.

The exhibition is accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue that uses newly available archival materials from the Judd Foundation and elsewhere to expand scholarly perspectives on Judd’s work. Essays by Ann Temkin, Erica Cooke, Tamar Margalit, Christine Mehring, James Meyer, Annie Ochmanek, Yasmil Raymond, and Jeffrey Weiss address subjects such as Judd’s early beginnings in painting, the fabrication of his sculptures, his site-specific pieces, and his work in design and architecture. Hardcover, $75. ISBN: 978-1-63345-032-5. Published by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and available at MoMA stores and online at store.moma.org. Distributed to the trade through ARTBOOK|D.A.P. in the United States and Canada, and through Thames & Hudson in the rest of the world.

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1963. Cadmium red light oil on wood with iron pipe, 22 1/8 × 45 3/8 × 30 1/2″ (56.2 × 115.3 × 77.5 cm). Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Joseph H. Hirshhorn Purchase Fund © 2020 Judd Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Alex Jamison

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1968. Stainless steel and amber Plexiglas; six units, each 34 × 34 × 34″ (86.4 × 86.4 × 86.4 cm), with 8″ (20.3 cm) intervals. Overall: 34 × 244 × 34″ (86.4 × 619.8 × 86.4 cm). Layton Art Collection Inc., Purchase, at the Milwaukee Art Museum © 2020 Judd Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: © John R. Glembin

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1967. Green lacquer on galvanized iron; twelve units, each 9 x 40 x 31″ (22.8 x 101.6 x 78.7 cm), installed vertically with 9″ (22.8 cm) intervals. The Museum of Modern Art, Helen Acheson Bequest (by exchange) and gift of Joseph Helman © 2020 Judd Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1969. Clear anodized aluminum and blue Plexiglas; four units, each 48 × 60 × 60″ (121.9 × 152.4 × 152.4 cm), with 12″ (30.5 cm) intervals. Overall: 48 × 276 × 60″ (121.9 × 701 × 152.4 cm). Saint Louis Art Museum. Funds given by the Shoenberg Foundation, Inc. © 2020 Judd Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1970. Purple lacquer on aluminum and cadmium red light enamel on cold‑rolled steel, 8 1/4 × 161 × 8″ (21 × 408.9 × 20.3 cm). Kunstmuseum Basel © 2020 Judd Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1973. Plywood; five units, each 72 × 143 × 72″ (182.9 × 363.2 × 182.9 cm), with 12″ (30.5 cm) intervals. Overall: 72 × 479 × 72” (182.9 × 1216.7 × 182.9 cm). An additional sixth unit fabricated in 1975. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa © 2020 Judd Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1973. Brass and blue Plexiglas, 33 × 68 × 48″ (83.8 × 172.7 × 121.9 cm). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Panza Collection, 1991 © 2020 Judd Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1976–77. Stainless steel, Twenty-one units, each 4 × 27 × 23″ (10.2 × 68.6 × 58.4 cm), with 13.5″ (34.3 cm) intervals. Overall: 4 × 108 × 230″ (10.2 × 274.3 × 584.2 cm). Collection of the Des Moines Art Center. Purchased with funds from the Coffin Fine Arts Trust; Nathan Emory Coffin © 2020 Judd Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: © Rich Sanders

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1986. Douglas fir plywood and orange Plexiglas; six units, each 39 3⁄8 × 39 3⁄8 × 29 1⁄2″ (100 × 100 × 75 cm), with 19 11/16″ (50 cm) intervals. Overall: 98½ × 157 5⁄8 × 29½” (250 × 400 × 75 cm). Marieluise Hessel Collection, Hessel Museum of Art, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale‑on‑Hudson, New York © 2020 Judd Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: © Chris Kendall

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1989. Clear anodized aluminum with amber acrylic sheet, 39 3/8 × 78 3/4 × 78 3/4″ (100 × 200 × 200 cm). Glenstone Museum, Potomac, Maryland © 2020 Judd Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: © Tim Nighswander/Imaging4Art

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1989. Enameled aluminum, 11 13/16 × 70 7/8 × 11 13/16″ (30 × 180 × 30 cm). Private collection, Belgium © 2020 Judd Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo Courtesy Galerie Greta Meert

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1991. Enameled aluminum, 59″ × 24′ 7 1/4″ × 65″ (150 × 750 × 165 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Bequest of Richard S. Zeisler and gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller (both by exchange) and gift of Kathy Fuld, Agnes Gund, Patricia Cisneros, Doris Fisher, Mimi Haas, Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis, and Emily Spiegel. © 2019 Judd Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: John Wronn