Minimalism emerged in the 1960s as an reaction against Abstract Expressionism. It emphasized geometric forms, industrial materials, hard edges, and a reduced palette of solid colors. Key influences included the Bauhaus, De Stijl, and Russian Constructivism movements. Notable minimalist artists included Carl Andre, Robert Morris, Sol LeWitt, Frank Stella, Dan Flavin, and Donald Judd, who created sculptures and installations focusing on the essence of materials and forms.

1. Minimalism
Early 1960s-Late 1960s

2. Development
 Abstract Expressionism dominant in the „50s
oExperimental artists separated New York from
Paris
oMade New York predominant
 Artists began deviating from the pure movement
oUsed objects not always associated with art
oHad meaning but stronger emphasis on the
medium

3. Influences
Bauhaus Movement (German)
De Stijl Movement (Dutch)
Constructivist Movement (Russian)
Influential Artists

4. Bauhaus (1919-1933)
 German school that combined crafts and fine art
 Aimed to unite creativity and manufacturing for
everyday life
 Stressed intellectual and theoretical pursuits
 Linked to an emphasis on practical skills, crafts
and techniques of the medieval guild system
oGoal of problem solving for a modern industrial
society
 Crafts placed on same level as fine art

5. De Stijl (1917-1931)
 Sought to express a new utopian ideal of spiritual
harmony and order
 Advocated pure abstraction and universality by a
reduction to the essentials of form and color
 Simplified compositions to vertical and horizontal
directions
 Used only primary colors, with black and white
 Incorporated geometric shapes of
squares, rectangles, lines
 Piet Mondrian key contributor

6. Russian Constructivism
 Influenced Bauhaus and De Stijl
 Influenced by Cubism, Suprematism, and Futurism
 Emphasized modular fabrication and industrial
materials over the craft technique
 Remove traditional artistic concerns and focus with
composition, to replace with „construction‟
oCarry out a fundamental analysis of the materials
and forms of art, leading to the design of
functional objects for modern Communist society

7. Significant Others
 Marcel Duchamp - Readymades showed that
sculpture might use a variety of pre-fabricated
materials
 Barnett Newman – Key in the development of the
color field
 Ad Reinhardt – Use of geometric shapes and solid
colors
 Josef Albers - Combine solid color, geometric form
and hard-edge

8. Notable Exhibits
 Primary Structures: Younger American and British
Sculpture
o New York’s Jewish Museum from April 27 – June 12, 1966
o Organized by the Curator of Painting and
Sculpture, Kynaston McShine
 Systematic Painting
o New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 1966
o Organized by curator Lawrence Alloway
 Green Gallery
o New York, 1964
o Donald Judd sculptures and the first light works of Dan
Flavin
 Leo Castelli Gallery and Pace Gallery

9. The New America Art
 Minimalist Art was developed through these
exhibits
 Exhibits showcased Geometric Abstractionism with
unique characteristics:
oShaped canvases
oColor fields
oHard-edge painting

10. Characteristics
Geometric form, hard-edge painting, solid
colors, industrial objects
Avoiding shared traits in all previous
movements
Emphasis on the medium
Removed all self-expression
Removed the appearance of fine art

11. Key Artists
 Carl Andre
 Robert Morris
 Sol LeWitt
 Frank Stella
 Dan Flavin
 Donald Judd

12. Carl Andre
 Sculptures made from industrial metals, stones, wood, and brick
 Emphasis on loose placement and sorting of materials – no fixatives
 Often geometric or simple repetitive arrangements
 Explores properties of matter
 “Sculpture as place”

13. Carl Andre
Aluminum-Zinc Dipole E/W
1989
“What my sculpture has in
common with science and
technology is an enormous
interest in the features of
materials”

14. Carl Andre
Steel-Aluminum Plain 1969

15. Carl Andre
144 Graphite Silence 2005

16. Carl Andre
Stone Field Sculpture 1977

17. Robert Morris
 Highly involved with dance and theater in early years
 Started with many kinds of mediums, but primarily worked with
plywood at his heights
 Theoretician of Minimalist art
 Emphasis on scale, form, and perception of work

18. Robert Morris
Cloud - 1964

19. Robert Morris
Corner Beam - 1964

20. Robert Morris
Corner Piece - 1964

21. Robert Morris
Lead and Felt - 1969

22. Sol LeWitt
 Founding member of Minimalism and Conceptual
art
 Early works were basic geometric forms with only
red, yellow, blue, black colors
 Later featured more colors and free form
 Works include:
oWall drawings, paintings, and other 2D creations
oStructures of geometric forms, towers, pyramids
and progressions

23. Sol LeWitt – Biography
 Born 1928 in Hartford, Connecticut
 Family of Jewish immigrants from Russia
 Studied at Wadsworth Atheneum, Syracuse
University and School of Visual Arts
 Practiced Old Master painting in Europe
 Worked as a graphic designer and spent time at
Seventeen
 Hired at the Museum of Modern Art
 Taught at the University of New York and School of
Visual Arts
 Moved to Spoleto, Italy, in 1980

24. Sol LeWitt
Five Modular Structures
“In my case, I used the
elements of these simple
forms - square, cube, line and
color - to produce logical
systems. Most of these
systems were finite; that
is, they were complete using
all possible variations. This
kept them simple.”

25. Sol LeWitt
Isometric Projection #13
“Every generation
renews itself in its own
way; there's always a
reaction against
whatever is standard.”

26. Sol LeWitt
Tower
“The artist is seen like
a producer of
commodities, like a
factory that turns our
refrigerators.”

27. Frank Stella - The Man
 Contributor for Minimalism and Post-Painterly
Abstraction
 Born 1936 in Malden, Massachusetts
 Graduated from Princeton University
 Influenced by Abstract Expressionism of Jackson
Pollock and Frank Kline
 Drawn to Newman‟s “flatter” surfaces and Jasper
Johns “target” paintings

28. Frank Stella – The Artist
 Moved to New York and reacted against
expression in art
 Emphasized the picture-as-object
 Pre 1960: Used these ideas in the Black Paintings
oBasic form and color
 Post 1960: Style shifted in Irregular Polygon series
and Protractor Series
oUsing shaped canvases and more colors

29. Frank Stella
Die Fahne Hoch!
“What you see is
what you see”

30. Frank Stella
Harran II
“The aim of art is to
create space - space
that is not
compromised by
decoration or
illustration, space
within which the
subjects of painting
can live”

31. Before and After
Black Series Irregular Polygon

32. Frank Stella
“[A painting] is a
flat surface with
paint on it -
nothing more”

33. Dan Flavin
•Started out primarily as an Abstract Expressionist
•Quickly developed an appreciation for light
•Used changes in tone rather than lines in early
works
•First overt reference to light in an Apollinaire-
esque poem
•Early works used light, but had meaning behind
them
Sail
Dan Flavin

35. Icon V (Coran’s Broadway
Flesh)
-1962

36. the diagonal of May
25, 1963 (to
Constantin Brancusi)
-1963

37. Characteristics of the Medium
Reflected light depends on the surface
Angle affects diffusion in a room
Color can change (red and deep yellow
darker)
Completely store-bought
The color is different from pigments
Each light is one color
The pieces all have a limited lifetime

38. untitled (to Janie Lee) one -1971

39. untitled (Marfa project)

40. What‟s the difference?
Abstract Expressionism
Minimalism

41. Abstract
Expressionism
• Subjective
• Expressive
• Action painting
• Wild brush
strokes
• Drip paintings
• Lack of form

42. Minimalism
• Hard edge
painting
• Geometric form
• Reduced color
• Non-subjective

43. Minimalism