DONALD JUDD | Untitled (85-5 Lehni AG)

stamped DONALD JUDD 85-5 LEHNI AG SWITZERLAND on the reverse

Galleria Lia Rumma, Naples
Sotheby's, London, 1 July 2014, lot 118
Acquired from the above sale by the present owner

This work is in good condition. There are tiny and unobtrusive nicks to the overturn and inside edges and shallow scratches throughout the work. Close inspection reveals a slight surface irregularity to the brown part, visible under raking light; turnover edge of the reverse yellow part. Further inspection reveals minor shallow scratches in the black part with possible previous consolidation. Minor paint loss is further found on the reverse overturn edge of yellow part.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Executed with conceptual precision, Untitled (85-5 Lehni AG) is an iconic work that captures the essence of Donald Judd’s artistic theory, first summarized in his seminal essay ‘Specific Objects’ from 1965. In one of the most significant and influential pieces written about art in the 1960s, Judd identified the new art object as “neither painting nor sculpture” but declared that “the use of three dimensions is an obvious alternative. It opens to anything” (Donald Judd, ‘Specific Objects’, in: Charles Harrison and Paul Wood, Eds., Art in Theory 1900 – 2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas, Oxford 2003, p. 824). Having pushed the boundaries of the traditional categories of painting and sculpture throughout his influential career, Judd’s later output continues his profound investigation into the art object with a newfound interest in color. Whereas the artist’s work from 1960-1984 focused on its formal aspects and never featured more than two different colors in one piece, the last decade of his artistic career saw an unprecedented chromatic diversity. Executed in 1984, Untitled (85-5 Lehni AG) is an outstanding example of his multicolored works, here characterized by the rich, earthy black and brown tones in conjunction with vibrant yellow and crimson red hues. Color is a crucial aspect of Judd’s practice, as the artist explains: "Color is like material. It is one way or another, but it obdurately exists. Its existence as it is the main fact and not what it might mean, which may be nothing [...] If there were an identifiable feeling to red or to red and black together they would not be useable to me [...] Color, like material, is what art is made from. It alone is not art" (Donald Judd, 'Some Aspects of color in General and Red and Black in Particular', 1993, Ibid., pp. 110-14).

Formerly in the private collection of an Italian minimal art collector, which was featured in the award-winning movie La Grande Belezza, Donald Judd’s Untitled (85-5 Lehni AG) perfectly encapsulates the central tenets of one of the most influential bodies of work in post-war American art-history. Rather than representing a gateway into illusionism, Judd’s use of brown, black, yellow and red are an integral part of the work’s formal appearance. The industrial gloss of these aluminium color surfaces and the occasional appearance of shadows along the object’s internal parts, present Untitled (85-5 Lehni AG) as a phenomenology of color. It is in these works from the 1980s that Judd succeeded to integrate colour in a greater variety and complexity than ever before, establishing him as a “master of color” as dubbed by art historian Rudi Fuchs.