Robert Irwin con Marianne Stockebrand - The Chinati Foundation
Robert Irwin con Marianne Stockebrand - The Chinati Foundation
Robert Irwin con Marianne Stockebrand - The Chinati Foundation
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In each newsletter, the <strong>Chinati</strong> <strong>Foundation</strong> reprints writings by Donald<br />
Judd. Previously published writings are:<br />
Volume 1, 1995 Monument to the Last Horse, 1992<br />
Volume 2, 1996 Marfa, Texas, 1985<br />
Volume 3, 1998 21 February 93, 1993<br />
Volume 4, 1999 Jackson Pollock, 1967<br />
Jackson Pollock by Bryan <strong>Robert</strong>son, 1961<br />
Volume 5, 2000 Review of Dan Flavin’s Exhibition, 1964<br />
Aspects of Flavin’s Work, 1969<br />
On Barnett Newman, 1964<br />
<strong>The</strong> following essay was written for the BBC Open University Course<br />
“Modern Art and Modernism” in 1983. Only a part of the text was<br />
used. It was previously published in Donald Judd: Complete Writings<br />
1975–1986 (Van Abbemuseum, <strong>The</strong> Netherlands, 1986).<br />
DONALD JUDD<br />
Abstract<br />
Expressionism<br />
In the late forties and early fifties of<br />
this century there was a wonderful<br />
efflorescence of painting, so high in<br />
quality that it set the standard for art<br />
until now. This development is usually<br />
called “Abstract Expressionism,”<br />
“Action Painting” or “<strong>The</strong> New York<br />
School.” As usual, these labels are<br />
not accurate. “<strong>The</strong> New York<br />
School” merely states where most of<br />
the artists lived. “Action Painting”<br />
applies to only some of the artists<br />
and then is just descriptive. “Abstract<br />
Expressionism” is seriously<br />
wrong since the work of most of the<br />
artists is neither “Abstract” nor primarily<br />
“Expressionist” and, to keep<br />
the third term, not essentially American.<br />
<strong>The</strong> artists are very diverse but<br />
there are some broad interests and<br />
appearances in common, which I’ll<br />
talk about.<br />
So that no one will <strong>con</strong>sider the situation<br />
simple, I’ll list the artists generally<br />
thought to be in the “New York<br />
School”: Franz Kline, Phillip Guston,<br />
DONALD JUDD<br />
El<br />
expresionismo<br />
abstracto<br />
A finales de los 1940s y principios de<br />
los 50s se produjo un extraordinario<br />
florecimiento en la pintura, de calidad<br />
tan alta que ha servido de norma hasta<br />
el día de hoy. Este fenómeno se <strong>con</strong>oce<br />
comúnmente como el “expresionismo<br />
abstracto”, la “pintura de acción” o la<br />
“escuela de Nueva York”. Como suele<br />
suceder, estos apelativos son inexac-<br />
7<br />
Clyfford Still, William Baziotes,<br />
Mark Rothko, Willem DeKooning,<br />
<strong>The</strong>odoros Stamos, Bradley Walker<br />
Tomlin, Jackson Pollock, <strong>Robert</strong><br />
Motherwell, Adolph Gottlieb, Barnett<br />
Newman, James Brooks, Hans<br />
Hoffman and Arshile Gorky. Because<br />
of the precise, fragmented<br />
and Cubist nature of his work, Stuart<br />
Davis was not <strong>con</strong>sidered one of the<br />
group. Because of the geometric nature<br />
of their work, neither were Josef<br />
Albers and Ad Reinhardt. Geometry<br />
was an anathema; it was held<br />
against Newman by some. <strong>The</strong><br />
sculptors, including David Smith,<br />
were not included, though the work<br />
of Herbert Ferber, Ibram Lassaw and<br />
Seymour Lipton is somewhat expressionistic.<br />
Inclusion and exclusion<br />
was not the doing of the artists, but<br />
of the first critics and then of the media.<br />
One similarity common to the<br />
early work of almost all the included<br />
artists is an organic surrealism,<br />
based mainly upon Miro’s work and<br />
typified by Gorky’s later work. Milton<br />
Avery and Mark Tobey should<br />
be mentioned as important artists.<br />
As Pollock said of modern art, “It<br />
didn’t drop out of the blue.” It’s not<br />
possible to <strong>con</strong>sider even a few of<br />
the issues without a little history. In<br />
Europe for some three hundred<br />
years the nature of art has been primarily<br />
the <strong>con</strong>cern of the individual<br />
artist. Gianlorenzo Bernini is the last<br />
artist to produce first-rate work under<br />
the auspices of a major institution<br />
of the society. After that no one<br />
first-rate believes sufficiently in religion<br />
or the state to be willing to<br />
have their work represent these generalizations.<br />
Also, after that the belief<br />
slowly dies in the direct correspondence<br />
of one’s feelings about<br />
the external world with the real nature<br />
of that world. <strong>The</strong> artist can no<br />
longer look at the world, put it in a<br />
picture, and claim reality, a similar<br />
reality, for both acts. More and<br />
more the portrayal of the natural<br />
world is as the artist feels it, not as it<br />
is. For two hundred years there were<br />
successful attempts to move realism<br />
away from the institutions and their<br />
versions of the world to a presumably<br />
better and less pretentious subject<br />
matter. Bernini is portraying reality;<br />
Courbet is painting a picture,<br />
the last real picture. <strong>The</strong> need for ordinary<br />
subject matter, even for ordinary<br />
visual elements that have no<br />
subject matter, is one of the major<br />
forces of the last three centuries. It’s<br />
caused in part by a desire to escape<br />
the institutions and the <strong>con</strong>ventions<br />
and to start over with new and per-<br />
tos. La “escuela de Nueva York” indica<br />
tan sólo dónde residían la mayoría de<br />
los pintores. La “pintura de acción” se<br />
aplica únicamente a algunos de los pintores,<br />
y en estos casos tiene valor puramente<br />
descriptivo. “Expresionismo<br />
abstracto” es esencialmente erróneo,<br />
ya que la mayor parte de las obras no<br />
son ni abstractas ni primordialmente<br />
expresionistas; tampoco son esencialmente<br />
americanas. Los artistas son<br />
muy diferentes, pero comparten algunos<br />
intereses y particularidades, los<br />
cuales <strong>con</strong>stituyen el tema de este ensayo.<br />
Para que nadie dude de la complejidad<br />
del cuadro general, <strong>con</strong>viene comenzar<br />
<strong>con</strong> una lista de los que generalmente<br />
se <strong>con</strong>sidera que pertenecen a la “escuela<br />
de Nueva York”: Franz Kline, Philip<br />
Guston, Clifford Still, William Baziotes,<br />
Mark Rothko, Willem DeKooning,<br />
<strong>The</strong>odoros Stamos, Bradley Walkter<br />
Tomlin, Jackson Pollock, <strong>Robert</strong> Motherwell,<br />
Adolph Gottlieb, Barnett Newman,<br />
James Brooks, Hans Hoffman y<br />
Arshile Gorky. Dada la índole precisa,<br />
fragmentada y cubista de su obra, a<br />
Stuart Davis no se incluye en el grupo.<br />
A Josef Albers y Ad Reinhardt tampoco,<br />
en vista del carácter geométrico de sus<br />
obras. La geometría era el anatema;<br />
algunos tachaban a Newman por lo<br />
mismo. A los escultores, entre ellos David<br />
Smith, no se les incluía, aunque las<br />
obras de Herbert Ferber, Ibram Lassaw<br />
y Seymour Lipton exhiben características<br />
impresionistas. La inclusión o exclusión<br />
de la lista no se debía a los artistas<br />
mismos sino a los críticos, y luego<br />
a los medios. Una de las similitudes entre<br />
las primeras obras de casi todos los<br />
artistas incluidos es un surrealismo orgánico<br />
basado principalmente en Miró<br />
y tipificado en las obras tardías de<br />
Gorky. Debemos mencionar a Milton<br />
Avery y Mark Tobey como artistas importantes.<br />
Como dijo Pollack a propósito del arte<br />
moderno, “no cayó del cielo”. No es<br />
posible discutir el asunto sin repasar<br />
primero el fondo histórico. En Europa,<br />
durante unos 300 años, quien se ha<br />
preocupado por la naturaleza del arte<br />
ha sido el artista individual. Gianlornzo<br />
Bernini es el último artista que produjo<br />
obras de primera calidad bajo el<br />
patrocinio de una importante institución<br />
de la sociedad. Después, nadie<br />
cree lo suficiente en la religión ni el estado<br />
como para aceptar que a través<br />
de su obra sean representadas estas<br />
generalizaciones. Después también desaparece<br />
paulatinamente la creencia<br />
en una correspondencia directa entre<br />
lo que uno siente ante el mundo externo<br />
y las cualidades reales de ese mundo.<br />
El artista ya no puede mirar el mun-