Donald Judd untitled, 1989

One of the most influential artists of the post-war period, Donald Judd (1928–1994) radically transformed our notions of the ‘visible’ by opting for a rigorous visual vocabulary which emphasises proportions and the openness of form. The artist first came to public attention in the mid-1960s for his distinctive use of industrial materials in rigorously geometric constructions, which sought to accentuate the purity of materials ‘for themselves, for the quality they have’.

The untitled aluminum box from 1989 is remarkable for its treatment of colour, which the artist viewed as something physical, a concrete formal entity, arching back to his beginnings as a painter. The vivid colouration lends the works a forceful visual presence in space, coming forth unequivocally, thus creating a unique experience which highlights the most fundamental components of human perception: colour, material, and form.