Donald Judd (1928-1994), selected by John Pawson for Calvin Klein NYC
Double Back Bench 20
New York, New York, designed 1981 / executed 1993-1995
pine
unmarked
102 1/4"w x 33 5/8"d x 35"h

Provenance:
Private Collection, New York, New York

Catalog Note:
This specific bench was used in the John Pawson-designed Calvin Klein flagship showroom in New York City on Madison Avenue at 60th Street in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The showroom opened in 1995 to much acclaim for its austere design, as this degree of sparse minimalism and empty space was rarely employed in a retail setting before that time. The bench was selected for use by John Pawson (and Calvin Klein) alongside furniture designs by A.G. Franzoni, Rudolph Schindler and John Pawson himself.

As the in situ photographs here showing Pawson and the Judd bench highlight, the Calvin Klein showroom was a grand yet soothing retail environment:

"The principal exterior move is the installation of pavement-to-third floor panels of glass between the existing monumentally scaled pilasters, effectively turning the entire building into a showcase. Inside, the new accommodation is inserted without disrupting the handsome proportions of the original lofty banking hall and in such a way as to minimise the visual impact of the structural columns. From the glass vestibule that rises six metres, the immediate impression is of a calm visual field: an immaculate expanse of honey-coloured Yorkstone flags, thick white walls with tight openings and benches that appear variously to float or to extrude from the floor." — John Pawson

Minor edge wear, nicks and scratches. Structurally sound. Very good condition.