Donald Judd's progression sculptures are a series of wall sculptures created between 1964 and the 1970s. Each work is similar in form, with Judd's choice of material varying depending on the date of production. Judd based each work on a simple mathematical sequence such as the Fibonacci Sequence. He typically called the works ''Untitled'', sometimes adding the word ''progression'' to the title. Judd, along with fellow artists,

Dan Flavin Dan Flavin (April 1, 1933 – November 29, 1996) was an American minimalist artist famous for creating sculptural objects and installations from commercially available fluorescent light fixtures. Early life and career Daniel Nicholas Flavin ...

and

Mel Bochner Mel Bochner (born 1940) is an American conceptual artist. Bochner received his BFA in 1962 and honorary Doctor of Fine Arts in 2005 from the School of Art at Carnegie Mellon University. He lives in New York City. Life Bochner was born in Pittsb ...

, was interested in the minimalist notion of seriality or serial progression rather than the more classical relational method of composition.

Works

*''Untitled (Progression)'' is a 1965 work made of painted and galvanized aluminum, held by the

Saint Louis Art Museum The Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) is one of the principal U.S. art museums, with paintings, sculptures, cultural objects, and ancient masterpieces from all corners of the world. Its three-story building stands in Forest Park in St. Louis, Mi ...

. *''Untitled'', made in 1965, is a maroon and silver aluminum sculpture held by the

Whitney Museum of Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), ...

. The original version of the work was painted with a Harley-Davidson motorcycle paint whose color was called "Hi-Fi Purple". The work was restored in 1976 and 2005. *''Untitled'', held by the

Indianapolis Museum of Art The Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) is an encyclopedic art museum located at Newfields, a campus that also houses Lilly House, The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park: 100 Acres, the Gardens at Newfields, the Beer Garden, and more. It i ...

, was created in 1967. It consists of a

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

bar over a series of five

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

boxes in Judd's signature

cadmium red Cadmium pigments are a class of pigments that contain cadmium. Most of the cadmium produced worldwide has been for use in rechargeable nickel–cadmium batteries, which have been replaced by other rechargeable nickel-chemistry cell varieties ...

. The long brass bar is both hollow and open at both ends. The red boxes increase geometrically in size from right to left, with the fifth box being sixteen times the length of the first. Conversely, the voids between the boxes decrease geometrically, the leftmost space being one quarter the size of the rightmost. The actual fabrication was performed by the Bernstein Brothers firm. *''Untitled'', made in 1969, was fabricated from extruded aluminum and polished aluminum. A mathematical sequence of 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21 is represented in a series of polished aluminum blocks. The work is held by the Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven. *''Untitled (Progression)'', made in 1970, sets five blocks of blue-purple anodized aluminum against a long clear anodized square rod. It is held in the collection of the

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, known for its encyclopedic collection of art from nearly every continent and culture, and especially for its extensive collection of Asian art. In 2007, ''Time'' magaz ...

. *''Untitled'', made in 1973, is a copper wall sculpture that added 1.5 inches to the width of each protrusion from left to right. It is held by the

Tate Museum Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

, London. *''Untitled'', made in 1976 from clear anodized and chartreuse anodized aluminum,is held by the

Peggy Guggenheim Collection The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is an art museum on the Grand Canal in the Dorsoduro ''sestiere'' of Venice, Italy. It is one of the most visited attractions in Venice. The collection is housed in the , an 18th-century palace, which was the home ...

in Venice, Italy. In it, the width of the chartreuse blocks present a reverse Fibonacci sequence when viewed from left to right. *''Untitled'', made in 1976 and held by the

Nasher Sculpture Center Opened in 2003, the Nasher Sculpture Center is a museum in Dallas, Texas, that houses the Patsy and Raymond Nasher collection of modern and contemporary sculpture. It is located on a site adjacent to the Dallas Museum of Art in the Dallas Art ...

is a clear and green anodized aluminum version of the progression sculptures. *''Untitled'', produced in 1978, is held by the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the l ...

. The work, made of clear anodized and green anodized aluminum, follows a dual Fibonacci sequence.

References

{{reflist Minimalism Sculptures Sculptures of the Indianapolis Museum of Art Sculptures by American artists Minimalist artists