Roberta Smith on Donald Judd’s
ARTnews Writings:
‘A Great Template for Criticism’
BY ALEX GREENBERGER
February 28, 2020 1:04pm
If Minimalist artist Donald Judd is known as a writer at all, it’s likely for one important text— his 1965 essay “Specific Objects,” in which he observed the rise of a new kind of art that collapsed divisions between painting, sculpture, and other mediums. But Judd was a prolific critic, penning shrewd reviews for various publications throughout his career—including ARTnews . With a Judd retrospective going on view this Sunday at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, ARTnews asked New York Times co-chief art critic Roberta Smith— who, early in her career, worked for Judd as his assistant— to comment on a few of Judd’s ARTnews reviews. How would she describe his critical style? “In a word,” she said, “great.” . . . .
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And then there is Temple Eight, or Ex Fano Apollinis —
Cicero, In Verrem II. 1. 46 —
He reached Delos. There one night he secretly 46
carried off, from the much-revered sanctuary of
Apollo, several ancient and beautiful statues, and
had them put on board his own transport. Next
day, when the inhabitants of Delos saw their sanc-
tuary stripped of its treasures, they were much
distressed . . . .
Delum venit. Ibi ex fano Apollinis religiosissimo
noctu clam sustulit signa pulcherrima atque anti-
quissima, eaque in onerariam navem suam conicienda
curavit. Postridie cum fanum spoliatum viderent ii
qui Delum incolebant, graviter ferebant . . . .