Untitled

Label TextJudd was not only one of the pioneering artists of Minimalism, but a theorist who defined many of the movement’s convictions. Rather than traditional painting or sculpture, he was interested in creating elemental structures that referenced only themselves and were closely related to the space they occupied. Untitled emphasizes the flat space of the floor, and the viewer must confront the work as an object that shares his or her immediate environment. Each unit of Untitled has the same measurements, although there are variations that underscore different internal dimensions of the square, as well as the effects of light on stainless steel. Typical of Judd’s approach, the only subjects Untitled explores are its own formal qualities.
Exhibition History"The Abstract Tradition in American Art," Des Moines Art Center, Dec. 7, 1991 - Feb. 23, 1992
Published ReferencesAN UNCOMMON VISION: THE DES MOINES ART CENTER, Des Moines Art Center, 1998, ref. & b/w detail p.150, color detail p.151

Des Moines Art Center Collects, Des Moines Art Center, 2013, ref. & color detail, pg. 234, color image pg.235

DimensionsOther (box): 4 × 27 × 23 in. (10.2 × 68.6 × 58.4 cm)
Overall: 4 × 108 × 230 in. (10.2 × 274.3 × 584.2 cm)

Accession Number 1987.7.a-.u

Classificationssculpture

CopyrightARS

ProvenanceFabricated by Bernstein Brothers, New York [1977]. Dia Art Foundation, New York; (Sotheby’s, 23 Works from the Dia Art Foundation, New York, November 5, 1985, lot 6); Paula Cooper Gallery, New York [purchased from the previous, 1985]; Des Moines Art Center [purchased from the previous, 1987]

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