MINIMALISM | ART MOVEMENT
Donald Judd, Father of Minimalism, Actually Hated This Term
Donald Judd described his work as “the simple expression of complex thought” and it goes hand in hand with how I want to write and create.
I’ve also researched minimalism as part of my MA final project, which led me to discover Donald Judd. For someone who is considered by others a ‘father of minimalism’ the fact that he hated this term shows us how much this movement evolved over the years.
He is often referred to as a pioneer of minimalism, even if he hated that term with all his heart. But who was Donald Judd, after all?
DONALD CLARENCE JUDD (1928–1994) WAS BORN IN EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, MISSOURI. HE SERVED IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY IN KOREA FROM JUNE 1946 UNTIL NOVEMBER 1947. UPON HIS RETURN TO THE UNITED STATES, JUDD STUDIED PHILOSOPHY AND ART HISTORY AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY AND PAINTING AT THE ART STUDENTS LEAGUE. FROM 1959 TO 1965, HE WORKED AS AN ART CRITIC, OFTEN WRITING OVER A DOZEN REVIEWS A MONTH. JUDD WAS A PAINTER UNTIL THE EARLY 1960S, WHEN HE BEGAN MAKING WORK IN THREE DIMENSIONS WHICH CHANGED THE IDEA OF ART. THROUGHOUT HIS LIFETIME JUDD ADVOCATED FOR THE IMPORTANCE OF ART AND ARTISTIC EXPRESSION.
