Object Lessons: Case Studies in Minimal Art

By Martha Buskirk, Virginia Rutledge, Francesca Esmay, Ted Mann, Jeffry Weiss, Nancy Spector, Lena Stringari A deep dive into the Guggenheim Museum’s vast collection of Minimal art from the visionary Italian collectors Giovanna and Giuseppe Panza di Biumo. Based upon the research of the Panza Collection Initiative, an ambitious, 10-year study project, Object Lessons focuses on four works by key figures of 1960s Minimalism and Conceptual art: Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Robert Morris and Lawrence Weiner. Authors Francesca Esmay, Ted Mann and Jeffrey Weiss present each work from several vantages: an exhaustive chronological account conveys the surprisingly complicated history of the work’s realization, acquisition, ownership and display. An overview addresses the broad practical and conceptual implications of this information for the historical identity of the work and its consequences for the work’s future. A conservation narrative establishes the role of fabricators and the material and t