MINIMALISM  (c. 1960-1975)
Minimalism was not only a reaction against the emotionally charged techniques of Abstract Expressionism but also a further refinement of pure abstraction. It was an attempt to discover the essence of art by reducing the elements of a work to the basic considerations of shape, surface and materials. In short, Minimalism’s theme is “More is less. Less is more.”

ALBERTO GIACOMETTI  (1901-1966)
"Walking Man I"  (1960)
Bronze (Carnegie Museum of Art)
Sold for $104M in 2010 (anonymous buyer)

DONALD JUDD  (1928-1994)
“Untitled (Stack)”  (1967)
Lacquer on galvanized iron

JOHN McCRAKEN  (1934-2011)
Untitled slab painting
Resin and fiberglass sculpture

FRANK STELLA  (1936 – Present)
“Jarmolince”  (1973)
Wall Relief – oil, fabric, felt, corrugated cardboard on shaped panel
(Leo Castelli Gallery, New York)

SOL  LeWITT  (1928-2007)
LeWitt reflecting on his work:  “The early ’60s was a pivotal time. The thinking of minimalist musician John Cage derived from Duchamp and Dada. I was not interested in that. My thinking derived from Muybridge and the idea of seriality, from music. I thought Dada was basically perceptual, relying on the often outraged response of the viewer. Pop art was a legacy of this. I was not interested in irony; I wanted to emphasize the primacy of the idea in making art. My interest, starting around 1965, was in building conceptual systems, which grew out of Minimalism. Basically it was a repudiation of Duchampian aesthetics

Wall Floor Piece #1  (1976)

 
"Wall Drawing #972" 
Einstein Medical Center Montgomery, PA

Art after Miniminalism

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