Donald Judd was one of the leaders of Minimalism, a style that emerged in New York in the 1960s characterized by serial repetition of primary geometric forms, industrial materials, and an attunement to sculpture’s interaction with the gallery space. In contrast to the subjective mark-making of the Abstract Expressionist artists of the previous two decades, Minimalists removed any traces of the artist’s hand and often had their works fabricated in factories. Judd’s sixteen untitled etchings read as schematic drawings for his sculptures. In fact, the one-hundred mill aluminum boxes installed at the artist’s foundation in Marfa, Texas share a similar design with the boxes in these prints. The repetition of the same primary box structure with changing interior planes calls for viewers to slow down and become sensitive to the specific relationships that emerge in each iteration. Drawn in isometric perspective, receding parallel lines remain parallel in these etchings, rather than converge, as in one-point perspective. While other artists in this exhibition (notably Josef Albers, Luis Molinari-Flores, and Shozo Nagano) employ this perspectival system to create optical illusions, Judd does so to distance his work from a fine art tradition and ally his art instead with architectural and engineering plans, in which isometric drawings are commonly used.
–When We Were Young: Rethinking Abstraction From The University At Albany Art Collections (1967-Present)

Donald Judd (1928–1994, American) was a leading figure in the art historical movement that has been characterized as Minimalism. The style emerged in New York in the 1960s and insisted on sculpture’s interaction with the exhibition space as well as the viewer. Artists who worked in this style utilized mass- produced forms and the process of repetition. Judd’s sixteen untitled etchings rely on repetition of the same primary box structure with varied configurations of interior planes. Exhibited in its entirety, the artist intended for the suite to be arranged horizontally or vertically and invites the viewer to consider new relationships that emerge with each iteration.
–Affinities and Outliers: Highlights from the University at Albany Fine Art Collections