Donald Judd once claimed that “art need only be interesting.” As part of the Minimalist movement of the 1960s and ’70s, Judd used prefabricated materials in multiple variations to create works that were radically pared-down icons of geometric clarity. In the 1960s, Judd outsourced his cantilevered wall pieces, such as Untitled, to the Bernstein Brothers fabrication shop in Queens, New York. Following the artist’s formula, they bent, shaped, and polished the copper with machine‑crafted precision, creating a beautiful, mathematically proportioned object.
The resulting works reflect a collaborative process, bridging the vision of a singular artist and the expertise of the skilled tradespeople who materialized his ideas.
In 1968 the Whitney Museum of American Art stages a retrospective of Judd’s work that includes none of his early paintings.
1968
Buys 101 Spring Street
Judd buys a five-story cast-iron building at 101 Spring Street (designed by Nicholas Whyte, built in 1870) for under $70,000, and it becomes his New York residence and studio: over the next 25 years he renovates it floor by floor, occasionally installing works he bought or commissioned from other artists. The building lets him place his work permanently — the start of his insistent push for permanent installations, since temporary exhibitions, he believed, push the art itself into the background.
1968 · Distinction
Guggenheim Fellowship
27 juin 1968 – 6 octobre 1968
Exhibition: 4. documenta
early 1970s
Annual trips to Baja California
In the early 1970s Judd begins to make annual trips to Baja California with his family. The clean, empty desert affects him deeply, and his strong attachment to the land stays with him for the rest of his life.
1971
Rents a house in Marfa, Texas
In 1971 Judd rents a house in Marfa, Texas; he will later buy numerous buildings there and acquire more than 32,000 acres (130 km²) of ranch land, together known as Ayala de Chinati.
