Minimalism
- About Minimalism: Sotheby'sMinimalism is a style of abstract art that rose to prominence in America in the 1960s and ‘70s. Taking inspiration from Constructivism, De Stijl, and the readymades of Marcel Duchamp, Minimalist artists rejected the heroic narratives of Abstract Expressionism in favour of pared down, purely self-referential geometric forms.
- Minimalism: TateMinimalism 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: The Art StoryMinimalism emerged in New York in the early 1960s among artists who were self-consciously renouncing recent art they thought had become stale and academic. A wave of new influences and rediscovered styles led younger artists to question conventional boundaries between various media.
Research & Reference
- Minimalism: Credo ReferenceA Credo Reference landing page on minimalism. This page includes links to reference works, journal articles, and a mind map.
Streaming Media
- What is Minimalism: The American Perspective 1958-1968A documentary that provides answers, featuring the exhibit, A Minimal Future? Art as Object 1958-1968 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles with the participation of Carl Andre, John Chamberlain, Robert Irwin, Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt, Brice Marden, Robert Morris, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Ryman, Tony Smith and Frank Stella.
- MinimalismThe 1960s Minimalism reduced art to its essentials like Carl Andre's 120 bricks in "Equivalent VIII," Donald Judd's "Untitled," Robert Morris's four mirrored cubes, and Ad Reinhardt's black canvas.
Perspectives
Minimalism
A beautifully illustrated book, internationally recognized as the definitive survey of Minimalism, now available in paperback
Minimalism
MINIMALISMMinimalism is a way of simplifying your life. It means eliminating what you do not use or need. It provides you the time and space to figure out what is important to you so you can start living intentionally-whatever that means for you. Whether you want to focus on your health, have more time for family, hobbies, learning a new skill, or you simply want to declutter your home, minimalism frees you from excess, so you have more time and energy to focus on what's important.In this book, you'll discover the basic principles and the benefits of minimalism. You'll also learn how to get started on your minimalism journey, including how to get rid of your unnecessary possessions!
Minimalism: Art and Polemics in the Sixties
What is minimalism? The answer to this simple question has defied simple answers. In this highly readable history of minimalist art James Meyer argues that "minimalism" was not a coherent movement but a field of overlapping and sometimes opposed practices. He traces in comprehensive detail the emergence of six figures associated with the development -- Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt, Robert Morris, and Anne Truitt -- and how the notion of minimalism came to be constructed around their art in the 1960s. Despite distinctive differences in method and points of view, Meyer shows, these artists became equated in a series of important exhibitions and texts that led to their designation as minimalists. Beginning with the first reviews of minimalist shows, the book tracks the development of an art that critics dubbed Cool Art, ABC Art, and Primary Structures before settling on the deprecating label "minimal art". Suggesting that such work was overly reduced in form and facture, this term implied that the new abstraction was barely legible as fine art to some viewers. Meyer describes the heated polemic that unfolded in response to these practices, the differing claims of the artists, and the sometimes intense rivalries that developed within a highly competitive, fashion-minded New York art scene. The book culminates with an analysis of minimalism's canonization in the late sixties, its reception in Europe, and its discrediting by leftist viewers who associated the new art with American capitalist-imperialism of the Vietnam War.
Minimal Art
In this important work, Frances Colpitt chronicles the Minimal art movement of the 1960s. Maintaining the original spirit of the period--enthusiasm for innovation and a passionate commitment to intellectual inquiry--Colpitt provides an excellent documentary history that is both thorough and nonpartisan. Using a metacritical approach that embraces critical writings of the artists themselves, interviews by herself and the others, and a generous sampling of illustrations, Colpitt sets foth the issues and arguments and identifies key concepts that are crucial to an understanding of Minimal art. These include the frequent use of industrial materials and techniques; nonrelational principles of composition; and theoretical issues of scale, presence and thatricality. Also discussed are issues of abstraction, illusion, and reductionism as revealed in the writing and artistic productions of such leading innovators as Frank Stella, Donald Judd, and Robert Morris, among others. An appendix lists major exhibitions and reviews.