This untitled work from 1988 is a mature example of Donald Judd’s ‘progressions’, a form the artist first developed in the mid-1960s. He wanted to liberate himself from traditional modes of representation by creating works based on simple numerical sequences. Here, the squared projecting elements grow progressively smaller from left to right, while their size progression is inverted in the corresponding empty spaces, so that the largest segments are separated by the smallest interstices. This proportional sequence imparts an internal logic to both solid and void alike, creating a structured, balanced visual rhythm across the length of the work. 

By adapting industrial processes to suit his needs, Judd intentionally effaced his own hand from the finished works, which bear minimal traces of their own production. The simple, geometric shapes emphasise volume and structure, allowing the sensuous materiality of the work come to the fore. The vibrant green recalls Judd’s origins as a painter and his deliberate use of colour, which he viewed as something physical, a concrete formal entity. The saturation of his colours increased over the course of his career and, in these later aluminium pieces, the vivid colouration lends the works a forceful visual presence in space.

This untitled work from 1988 is a mature example of Donald Judd’s ‘progressions’, a form the artist first developed in the mid-1960s. He wanted to liberate himself from traditional modes of representation by creating works based on simple numerical sequences. Here, the squared projecting elements grow progressively smaller from left to right, while their size progression is inverted in the corresponding empty spaces, so that the largest segments are separated by the smallest interstices. This proportional sequence imparts an internal logic to both solid and void alike, creating a structured, balanced visual rhythm across the length of the work. 

By adapting industrial processes to suit his needs, Judd intentionally effaced his own hand from the finished works, which bear minimal traces of their own production. The simple, geometric shapes emphasise volume and structure, allowing the sensuous materiality of the work come to the fore. The vibrant green recalls Judd’s origins as a painter and his deliberate use of colour, which he viewed as something physical, a concrete formal entity. The saturation of his colours increased over the course of his career and, in these later aluminium pieces, the vivid colouration lends the works a forceful visual presence in space.