# Donald Judd artist context and auction value notes Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/donald-judd/ Profile generated: 2026-05-02T10:25:44.281Z Quality: high confidence, strong sources ## Artist identity - Birth date: 1928-06-03 - Death date: 1994-02-12 - Nationality: American - Movements: Minimalism - Common media: Stainless steel, Aluminum, Plexiglass, Brass, Copper, Galvanized iron, Painted canvas (early work) ## About Donald Judd Donald Judd (1928–1994) was an American artist widely regarded as the foremost exponent and theoretician of Minimalism. Born in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, he studied philosophy at Columbia University and art history at the Art Students League in New York before beginning his career as an art critic for Arts magazine in the early 1960s. His landmark 1964 essay "Specific Objects" argued for a new category of three-dimensional work that transcended the conventions of painting and sculpture, emphasizing industrial materials, serial forms, and the integrity of real space. From 1964 onward, Judd employed professional fabricators to produce his signature hollow rectilinear volumes in stainless steel, aluminum, plexiglass, and brass, removing hands-on studio work from his practice. His iconic forms — stacks, progressions, and wall boxes — are held in major museum collections worldwide, and his Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas, remains a landmark of permanent installation art. ## Common works and media Collectors most frequently encounter Judd's wall-mounted stacks — identical rectangular units suspended at equal intervals from floor to ceiling — and his progressions, which use incrementally spaced forms along a wall. Floor pieces and wall boxes in stainless steel, aluminum, brass, or copper with colored plexiglass interiors are also common at auction. Early painted wood and canvas reliefs from the late 1950s and early 1960s appear less often. Judd also produced a body of prints, works on paper, and furniture designs that circulate in the secondary market. ## Market and appraisal context Donald Judd maintains a deep and active secondary market with 865 recorded auction lots spanning 1998 to April 2026, 727 of which carry realized prices. Liquidity is stable: 66 lots appeared in the trailing 12 months, matching the prior 12-month volume exactly. Price dispersion is exceptionally wide — from $40 for minor prints to $8.49 million for unique sculptural works — reflecting the vast difference between editioned prints and unique fabricated sculptures. The interquartile range ($4,500–$217,250) shows a market dominated by mid-to-upper tier lots, while the $21,600 median indicates that the typical Judd lot is a print or small multiple rather than a major sculpture. The top of the market — unique anodized aluminum and stainless-steel pieces sold at Christie's — realizes six and seven figures. Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips anchor the high end, while Wright, Rago, Los Angeles Modern Auctions, and regional houses handle mid-tier prints and multiples. European houses (Artcurial, Grisebach, Auktionshaus am Grunewald, Henry's) indicate healthy transatlantic demand. ## Auction-house-backed market evidence Donald Judd maintains a deep and active secondary market with 865 recorded auction lots spanning 1998 to April 2026, 727 of which carry realized prices. Liquidity is stable: 66 lots appeared in the trailing 12 months, matching the prior 12-month volume exactly. Price dispersion is exceptionally wide — from $40 for minor prints to $8.49 million for unique sculptural works — reflecting the vast difference between editioned prints and unique fabricated sculptures. The interquartile range ($4,500–$217,250) shows a market dominated by mid-to-upper tier lots, while the $21,600 median indicates that the typical Judd lot is a print or small multiple rather than a major sculpture. The top of the market — unique anodized aluminum and stainless-steel pieces sold at Christie's — realizes six and seven figures. Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips anchor the high end, while Wright, Rago, Los Angeles Modern Auctions, and regional houses handle mid-tier prints and multiples. European houses (Artcurial, Grisebach, Auktionshaus am Grunewald, Henry's) indicate healthy transatlantic demand. ### Appraisal notes An Appraisily appraisal of a Donald Judd work would cross-reference the Appraisily auction-record index (865 lots, 727 priced) against the specific piece's medium, dimensions, edition status, fabrication date, and provenance. For prints and multiples — the most frequently traded category — comparable lots cluster between $500 and $4,500 at regional houses, while numbered etchings and woodcuts at Christie's have reached $317,500. For unique sculptural works, the relevant comparable tier is the P75–max range ($217,250–$8.49M), with strong adjustments for material (stainless-steel and anodized aluminum with plexiglass command premiums), fabrication period (mid-1960s through early 1970s works are most coveted), provenance chain through Judd Foundation or primary-gallery documentation, and condition of industrial surfaces. The appraiser would also verify edition size and fabrication records against Judd Foundation archives to confirm authenticity, particularly for posthumously produced or later-editioned pieces. ### Valuation factors - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] ### Collector notes - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] ### Market caveats - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] ### Market evidence sources - undefined: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/donald-judd/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-donald-judd-american-1928-1994-209-c-4ae4498a5e ## Appraisily data basis Appraisily artist pages combine independent artist-identity research from museum, library-authority, and scholarly sources with auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lot data when those records are available. This page draws on sources including the Museum of Modern Art, Tate, the Library of Congress, VIAF, RKD, and Wikidata. ## Sources - The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/2948 - Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n89668022 - RKD: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/43040 - Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/donald-judd-1378 - VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/34478944/ - Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q250293 - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Judd - Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500010358