Edited by Rainer Judd
BOOK
Published by the British art publisher MACK in collaboration with the Judd Foundation, Donald Judd Furniture is the first book devoted entirely to the furniture designed by Donald Judd, a body of work he deliberately kept distinct his work in art for which he is best known.
Edited by his daughter Rainer Judd, the volume gathers more than one hundred furniture pieces made between 1970 and 1991, documented through detailed photographs, technical drawings, and archival images taken in Judd’s homes and studios in New York and Marfa.
The book follows a clear and direct structure: the furniture is organised by material, wood, metal, and plywood, highlighting Judd’s consistent and disciplined approach. His designs respect the inherent qualities of each material and the logic of construction. For Judd, furniture was not a decorative pursuit but an extension of the practical and spatial thinking that also informed his work in art.
In addition to visual documentation, the book includes writings by Judd himself, including his well-known 1993 text It’s Hard to Find a Good Lamp, in which he outlines his views on design in relation to art.
What stands out most is seeing Judd’s technical drawings and designs, long available on the Judd Foundation’s website, finally brought together in a book that gives them coherence.
Through Rainer Judd’s editing and the accompanying texts, the furniture and plans are positioned within both Judd’s overall practice and the broader history of design.
The book’s design reflects the same care and clarity found in Judd’s work, with a balanced relationship between form and function. It speaks to readers interested in design and architecture, as well as those looking to explore a lesser-known aspect of Judd’s output.
Donald Judd e i suoi mobili
The publication introduces Donald Judd’s work in furniture design, which began during the renovation of his home and studio at 101 Spring Street in New York and continued in Marfa, Texas, where Judd faced a practical need: to shape the spaces he lived in.
The resulting furniture reflects a radical, straightforward aesthetic in which every element is reduced to its essentials. These are not structures that imitate art, but ones that extend it, carrying the same visual strength, the same sense of presence, and the same clear, unadorned functionality.
We also know that Judd saw his furniture design and spatial approach as entirely separate from his artistic practice.
As he writes in the opening paragraph of his essay It’s Hard to Find a Good Lamp: ” The configuration and the scale of art cannot be transposed into furniture and architecture. The intent of art is different from that of the latter, which must be functional. If a chair or a building is not functional, if it appears to be only art, it is ridiculous. The art of a chair is not its resemblance to art, but is partly its reasonableness, usefulness, and scale as a chair. These are proportion, which is visible reasonableness. The art in art is partly the assertion of someone’s interest regardless of other considerations. A work of art exists as itself; a chair exists as a chair itself. And the idea of a chair isn’t a chair.”
Why the Book is Interesting
For the first time a book focuses only on Donald Judd’s work as a designer. Often seen as secondary to his art, this part of his practice stands on its own, particularly for those with an interest in design culture and have a weakness for beautiful books.
Donald Judd Furniture is the result of a collaboration between MACK, known for its carefully made books, and the Judd Foundation, with the direct involvement of Rainer Judd. The outcome is a carefully considered volume that offers a clear and in-depth perspective on a crucial dimension of Judd’s work.
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Details
MACK
The book is available on Amazon.com>
Hardcover, 496 Pages
978-1915743213
