Donald Judd was born in Missouri in 1928, and grew up mainly in the Midwest. He served in the U.S. Army in Korea and in 1947 decided he would become an artist. He studied philosophy and art history at both the Art Students' League and Columbia University. Judd first made his name as an art critic, writing for prestigious and influential magazines such as Art News, Arts Magazine and Art International. Abstract Expressionism was the revolutionary art movement at the time and Judd, as an art critic, called this stlye "sloshy and organic." He claimed the quality of new art had been declining for 15 years.

In 1971 Judd moved to Marfa, Texas, where he realized his dream of creating the ideal museum. He converted a large number of the town buildings--aircraft hangars, a former bank, office and commercial buildings, a supermarket, a factory, hotels, villas, ranches, and even the old army base-- Fort D. A. Russell--into studios and exhibition spaces. Judd became an ardent architect, interior architect, landscape architect, and environmentalist.

Vocabulary Terms

Abstract Expressionism--Art that rejects representation; has few recognizable images; emphasis on line, color, shape, texture, value; expression of internal feelings or emotions of the artist.

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