Minimalism is an extreme form of abstract art that developed in the United States during the 1960s, typified by works built from simple geometric shapes based on the square and the rectangle. It extends the abstract idea that art should have its own reality rather than imitate some other thing. Donald Judd was among the movement's most important innovators.
Facts
Disputed
Start YearSources describe an early-1960s emergence in New York without naming a single founding date or event; 1960 is used here as a round approximate marker. End YearTheArtStory dates Minimalism's active period to the early through late 1960s, noting the style diversified into other disciplines within a few years of its birth rather than ending at one event; 1969 marks the close of that decade. Founded In PlaceNew York City, United States 1 Key PrincipleGeometric, often industrially fabricated forms purged of metaphor and personal expression, so that, in Frank Stella's words describing the movement's aim, what you see is what you see. 1 Connections
Associated With
Expressed In
Movement Members
Canonical Minimalist painter of grid and line compositions.
Widely classed as Minimalism's leading figure and most important theoretician, though Judd rejected the label himself and argued the work named by it shared no real common style; see the recorded dissent on this edge.
Source Wikipedia
Core Minimalist sculptor.
Untitled (Stack), Works Untitled (Stack), the form Judd introduced in 1965, is the work most closely associated with his name and with the Minimalism label historians applied to him, though Judd himself rejected the label; see the recorded dissent on his own in-movement edge.
Source Wikipedia
Sources
1. TheArtStory
The Art Story FoundationMinimalism, Summary of Minimalism section
Minimalism emerged in New York in the early 1960s.
Minimalism, Key Ideas and Accomplishments section
What you see is what you see.
Minimalism movement page, legacy section
By the late 1960s, just a few years after the movement was born, Minimalism was diversifying into many disciplines to such an extent that it could no longer be seen as a coherent style or tendency.
View the Source Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationMinimalism, opening section and History section
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design...where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts. / Minimalism in visual art...emerged in New York in the early 1960s.
Minimalism, Visual arts and literalist art section
Minimalism in the visual arts, sometimes called 'minimal art', 'literalist art', and 'ABC Art'
Expressed In: Painting, Minimalism, Paintings section
In general, minimalism's features included geometric, often cubic forms purged of much metaphor, equality of parts, repetition, neutral surfaces, and industrial materials.
Movement Members: Donald Judd, Donald Judd, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Judd
The new three dimensional work doesn't constitute a movement, school, or style. The common aspects are too general and too little common to define a movement.
- Movement Members: Untitled (Stack), Donald Judd, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Judd
View the Source Tate
Tate, United KingdomArt Terms: MinimalismQuote, Art Terms: Minimalism
Minimalism is an extreme form of abstract art developed in the USA in the 1960s and typified by artworks composed of simple geometric shapes based on the square and the rectangle. Minimalism or minimalist art can be seen as extending the abstract idea that art should have its own reality and not be an imitation of some other thing.
Dissenting Readings (1 dissenting reading)
Movement Members: Donald Judd
Judd rejected the "Minimalism" label historians later applied to this edge. In Arts Yearbook 8 (1965) he wrote that the new three-dimensional work of his generation "doesn't constitute a movement, school, or style," arguing the pieces grouped under the term shared too little in common to define one; his own account of the work, laid out in the same essay, was "Specific Objects," describing autonomous three-dimensional objects rather than sculpture in the traditional European sense.
A dissenting reading, from Donald JuddWikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation
Frequently Asked Questions
Donald Judd is named among the movement's most important innovators. Minimalism developed in the United States during the 1960s as an extreme form of abstract art, typified by works built from simple geometric shapes based on the square and the rectangle, extending the idea that art should have its own reality rather than imitate some other thing. Judd himself rejected the Minimalism label historians later applied to his own work, a documented dissent recorded on this atlas.
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