Donald Judd (1928-1994) was one of the key figures among American artists pioneering new directions in the 1960s. He settled in New York and, after earning a masters degree in art history at Columbia University, supported himself by writing for art magazines. Judd later began to paint, but soon was drawn to making objects using common materials such as plywood, metal and Plexiglas. He preferred to call his works “specific objects”, the title of his manifesto published in 1965. In it he rejected traditional European painting and sculpture in favor of three-dimensional work, referred to by critics as Minimalist.