MINIMALISM (1960–1970) – ArtPinStar
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MINIMALISM (1960–1970)


Installation view 1966 ‘Primary Structures’ exhibition at the Jewish Museum in New York. Photo courtesy of Jewish Museum. MinimalismInstallation view 1966 ‘Primary Structures’ exhibition at the Jewish Museum in New York. Photo courtesy of Jewish Museum

Minimalism (1960s–1970s)

The Minimalist movement emerged in New York as a group of younger artists began to question the overly expressive works of Abstract Expressionist artists. Minimalist art instead focused on anonymity, calling attention to the materiality of works. Artists urged viewers to focus on precisely what was in front of them, rather than draw parallels to outside realities and emotive thoughts through the use of purified forms, order, simplicity, and harmony.

American artist Frank Stella was of the earliest adopters of Minimalism, producing nonrepresentational paintings, as seen in his Black Paintings completed between 1958 and 1960. Each features a pattern of rectilinear stripes of uniform width printed in metallic black ink.