Donald Judd gained international renown as greatest representative of Minimal Art.
Donald Judd was born in Excelsior Springs in Missouri in 1928. After he had served in the army, he began to study at the age of 19. Until 1953 he studied art history and philosophy at the New York Art Students League, at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg and at the Columbia University in New York.
In 1957 Donald Judd had his first solo show at Panoras Gallery in New York. The same year he also enrobed at Columbia University once again to continue his studies of art history until 1962. The artist slowly began to publish his thoughts on art as critic for the magazines "ARTnews", "Art International" and "Arts Magazine". Theoretic writings about art accompanied Donald Judd works beyond his activities as art critic.
In the 1960s Donald Judd found his path away from painting over the relief to sculpting. He soon made simple three-dimensional elements, cubic or cuboid "boxes" he placed on walls or on the floor. These works, which emanate a very special effect mainly because of their interspace, laid the basis for the fame of Donald Judd. In a clear and reduced aesthetic Donald Judd created nothing less than icons of Minimal Art.
In the 1960s the career of Donald Judd gained momentum. International galleries showed his works in solo exhibitions, and museums also became interested in him soon. The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York showed an exhibition in 1968, in 1975 the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, in 1987 the Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum in the Dutch town of Eindhoven and in 2004 the London Tate Modern, to name but a few stops.
In 1972 Donald Judd moved to Marfa/Texas. The artist died in New York in 1994.