The Art of Less: Minimalism

Back to Basics

As the gulf between high and low culture widened in art, music, and literature during the 1960s, works in these arts often became increasingly difficult and complex. In response, some artists and com-posers went the opposite direction, creating works with a bare-bones, back-to-basics approach that drew attention to form and materials rather than content or meaning. The result was named minimalism by art critic Barbara Rose.

Painting

Minimalism first appeared in paintings by artists, such as Frank Stella, who rejected the emotional content of abstract expressionism. Instead, such work—called post-painterly abstraction—removed subjects and personality entirely from the picture; the work was not a picture of anything save itself. The resulting works, similar to Ellsworth Kelly's hard-edge paintings, consisted of flat color in geometric shapes.

Sculpture

The trend was first...

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