Donald Judd: 1-L. first of a set 15 woodcuts 'The Parallelogram Suite' 1961-69

Each image of the suite is a variation of a 12-groove patterned parallelogram. The upper and lower margins either slope down to the left (in those captioned with an L) or down to the right (in those captioned with an R). This suite is printed in red.

9/10

Acquired from the Artist in 1971.

The artist designed the blocks which were then cut and printed by his father. Each image of the suite is a variation of a 12-groove patterned parallelogram. The upper and lower margins either slope down to the left (L) or down to the right (R) and the prints are titled with a number and the letter L or R, according to whether the slope is to the left or to the right. The numbering is not consistently sequential . For example, there are no 'L' numbers 8, 9 or 10: the numbering jumps from 7-11.
Some sets of the edition were printed in red, others in blue. When the edition was finished the artist painted the blocks to signify their cancellation as blocks and designated them as sculptural reliefs. The woodblock is in the museum's collection: see Circ.81-1971

Judd is known principally as a sculptor but within his lifetime he produced around 300 editions of prints. Printmaking as a medium could be easily adapted and exploited to explore seriality and progression- concepts of particular interest to Judd. To create these serial works in both print and three dimensional sculpture Judd worked with very simple geometric forms

CIRC.359-1971