Donald Judd (1928-1994) was one of the foremost practitioners of Minimal Art, which had its apex in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In the wake of Abstract Expressionism and its highly subjective, mystical focus, Judd and other Minimalists sought to create a depersonalized art in which the physical properties of space, scale, and materials were explored as phenomena of interest on their own, rather than as metaphors for human experience. "A shape, a volume, a color, a surface is something itself," Judd wrote. "It shouldn't be concealed as part of a fairly different whole."

The Essential Donald Judd features a small but choice group of objects and prints drawn from the Walker's permanent collection. Highlights include the newly restored untitled (1971), a group of six large-scale aluminum cubes that is rarely exhibited due to its size, and an important portfolio of 30 woodblock prints that will be presented for the first time since its acquisition.