Provenance
Pace Wildenstein, New York
Catalogue Essay
“It isn’t necessary for a work to have a lot of things to look at, to compare, to analyze one by one, to contemplate. The thing as a whole, its quality as a whole, is what is interesting.” DONALD JUDD

An innovative and complex artist, Donald Judd is widely considered to have shaped the face of 20th century, American art. Eschewing the traditions of sculpture, the artist triumphed the use of humble materials and sought to reduce all traces of the human hand from his works. His oeuvre disavowed art’s tendency to lean towards the illusionistic instead touting the importance of shape, repetition and surrounding. In this sense they encapsulate the principal tenets of Modernism, strongly in discussion at the time of their making, while also remaining highly prevalent today. Bold, ordered and striking in their simplicity Dudd’s works offer the possibility of unbounded experience and interpretation.

In the early 1960s, having abandoned painting, Judd turned towards creating free standing, three dimensional objects. Working in a number of man -made materials, including industrial plywood, concrete and color-impregnated Plexiglas, he developed a clear interest in repetition and simplicity - features which would become the trademarks for his canonical style. Keen to do away with the conventional categories of art, in his seminal text ‘Specific objects’ (published in 1965), Judd discussed how his works existed outside the realms of sculpture and painting, refuting archaic definition and paving the way for a new manner of discussing and examining objects.

Composed of clear anodized aluminum with amber Plexiglas, Untitled marks Judd’s the preoccupation with the synthetic and undervalued. Presenting these materials in his minimal and austere style, Dudd transforms them into an object of contemplation and monumentality. Faced with this work we are drawn to think not only about the aesthetic qualities of the shimmering pexiglass and the deep copper but also the minimal nature of its simple form, which imparts understandings of rationality and tranquility.

Through its rectangular shape and placement on a wall Untitled the work also bears uncanny allusions to painting. Meanwhile its flat, smooth surface and three dimensional natures hold ties to common understanding of sculpture. In this sense the work seems to teasingly oscillate between the two art forms, creating a sense of tension whilst also exemplifying Judd’s radical and influential view of art.
Artist Biography
Donald Judd
American • 1928 - 1994
Donald Judd came to critical acclaim in the 1960s with his simple, yet revolutionary, three-dimensional floor and wall objects made from new industrial materials, such as anodized aluminum, plywood and Plexiglas, which had no precedent in the visual arts. His oeuvre is characterized by the central constitutive elements of color, material and space. Rejecting the illusionism of painting and seeking an aesthetic freed from metaphorical associations, Judd sought to explore the relationship between art object, viewer and surrounding space with his so-called "specific objects." From the outset of his three-decade-long career, Judd delegated the fabrication to specialized technicians. Though associated with the minimalist movement, Judd did not wish to confine his practice to this categorization.

Inspired by architecture, the artist also designed and produced his own furniture, predominantly in wood, and eventually hired a diverse team of carpenters late in his career.
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18

Donald Judd

Untitled

1988
clear anodized alumium with amber Plexiglas
25 x 100 x 25 cm. (9 7/8 x 39 3/8 x 9 7/8 in.)
Engraved 'DONALD JUDD 88-76 ALUMINIUM AG MENZIKEN' on the reverse. This work is No. 21433.

Estimate
£250,000 - 350,000

Sold for £326,500

Contact Specialist
Peter Sumner
Head of Contemporary Art, London
psumner@phillips.com
+44 207 318 4063

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

London Evening Sale 10 February 2014 7pm

1
Fredrik Værslev
Untitled (Frieze Garden Painting #02)
Estimate £20,000 - 30,000 ♠
Sold for £48,750
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2
Lucien Smith
Feet in the Water
Estimate £40,000 - 60,000 ‡
Sold for £194,500
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3
Adam McEwen
Rite Aid
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000 ♠†
Sold for £170,500
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4
Urs Fischer
Nail Duo
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000
Sold for £230,500
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5
Dan Colen
It's Only Natural (The Replacement)
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000
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6
Nate Lowman
Untitled Marilyn #13
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡
Sold for £530,500
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7
Sterling Ruby
SP56
Estimate £500,000 - 700,000 ‡
Sold for £494,500
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8
Christopher Wool
Untitled
Estimate £800,000 - 1,200,000 ‡
Sold for £1,314,500
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9
Andreas Gursky
Ocean IV
Estimate £300,000 - 500,000 ♠
Sold for £338,500
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10
Rosemarie Trockel
Untitled
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 ‡♠
Sold for £116,500
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11
Yayoi Kusama
Infinity Nets OPQR
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡
Sold for £458,500
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12
Urs Fischer
Cutting a Cake with a Hammer
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000
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13
Rudolf Stingel
Untitled
Estimate £350,000 - 450,000 ‡♠
Sold for £470,500
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14
Andy Warhol
One Multicolored Marilyn (Reversal Series)
Estimate £600,000 - 800,000 ‡
Sold for £1,082,500
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15
Gerhard Richter
Abstraktes Bild 776-1 (Abstract Painting)
Estimate £1,800,000 - 2,200,000 ‡♠
Sold for £1,930,500
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16
Mark Grotjahn
Untitled (Butterfly)
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000 ‡
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17
Michaël Borremans
The Portrait
Estimate £150,000 - 200,000 ‡♠
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18
Donald Judd
Untitled
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000
Sold for £326,500
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19
Michelangelo Pistoletto
Uomo con gli stivali al telefono
Estimate £350,000 - 450,000 ♠
Sold for £614,500
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20
Andy Warhol
Miguel Berrocal
Estimate £300,000 - 400,000 ‡
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21
Komar and Melamid
Karl Marx and Cornucopia (Diptych)
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ‡
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22
Semyon Faibisovich
Winter Day, from the “Shuttle Bus” series
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 ‡
Sold for £62,500
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23
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24
Chris Ofili
The Saga Continues...The Journey from Hell
Estimate £600,000 - 800,000 ‡♠
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25
Banksy
Happy Shopper
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡♠
Sold for £506,500
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26
Banksy
Rembrandt
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000 ♠
Sold for £398,500
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27
Jacob Kassay
Untitled
Estimate £70,000 - 100,000 ‡
Sold for £86,500
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28
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29
Damien Hirst
Night Follows Day (Diptych)
Estimate £500,000 - 700,000 ‡♠
Sold for £578,500
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30
Ashley Bickerton
Bismarck Archipelago Shark
Estimate £30,000 - 50,000
Sold for £104,500
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31
Robert Longo
Spanish Blood
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32
Wolfgang Tillmans
Paper Drop (White) b
Estimate £25,000 - 35,000 ♠
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33
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34
Oscar Murillo
Untitled
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 ‡♠
Sold for £98,500
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35
Mark Flood
Pink Summer Day
Estimate £20,000 - 30,000
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Contemporary Art Evening Sale

London Evening Sale 10 February 2014 7pm

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Provenance

Catalogue Essay

Artist Biography

Donald Judd

18

Donald Judd

Untitled

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

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