Untitled

An emblematic figure of minimalist art, Donald Judd created an untitled work in 1991 from Corten steel, a rough industrial material that develops a patina as it rusts. This singular characteristic becomes both the subject and the purpose of his creations. Judd privileges the direct experience of the materiality of his works. He has said that “material, space, and colour are the main aspects of the visual arts”.

 The piece consists of four large Corten steel boxes hung on the wall, the empty spaces between which form a cross. The interior surface of each box is painted bright yellow, which contrasts with the steel’s rough texture and reddish-brown patina. This visual effect heightens the simplicity of the form and the colour, both central elements of the artist’s work. 

Judd has introduced a kind of art that is grounded in reality, devoid of metaphors and illusions, in which each piece delineates the interior space it creates and the exterior space it occupies. His precisely constructed sculptures explore the relationship between their parts and the whole, as well as the subtle interplays of light and shadow. The Corten steel’s patina adds a particular visual and tactile experience that reinforces the artist’s notion of “specific objects”. 

This piece embodies Judd’s vision of a material and spatial art in which the raw materiality and interplay of colours and spaces provide us with a novel view of contemporary sculpture.

The Pinault Collection showed this work for the first at the Icones exhibition at Punta della Dogana in Venice in 2023