Minimalism Art Movement

Minimalism is considered an abstract art that covers various forms of art and design. It is a term used to describe paintings and sculpture that thrive on simplicity in both content and form, and seek to remove any sign of personal expressivity. The aim of Minimalism is to allow the viewer to experience the work more intensely without the distractions of composition, theme, and so on.

Minimal Art emerged as a movement in the 1950s and continued through the 60's and 70's. However, there are examples of the Minimalist theory being exercised as early as the 18th century when Goethe constructed an "Altar of Good Fortune", made simply of a stone sphere and cube.

Goethe's "Altar of Good Fortune", created in 1777

(taken from here)

But the 20th century sees the movement come into its own. From the 1920s, artists such as Malevich and Duchamp produced works in the Minimalist vein but the movement is known chiefly by its American exponents such as Dan Flavin, Ellsworth Kelly and Frank Stella.

The theory of Minimalism is that without the diverting presence of "composition", and by the use of plain, often industrial materials, arranged in geometrical or highly simplified configurations, we may experience all the more strongly the pure qualities of color, form, space and materials.

It was the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe who adopted the motto, "Less is More", which is the actual aim of the movement. This motto described the style of design where numerous essential components of a structure is arranged in such as way as to create the impression of extreme simplicity. With this concept, structures designed by van der Rohe makes use of simple yet elegant designs. The structure's beauty is determined by outlining the basic geometric shapes, the use of striking color combinations, light effects, and clean and fine finishes.

Minimal Art is related to a number of other movements such as Conceptual Art in the way the finished work exists merely to convey a theory, Pop Art in their shared fascination with the impersonal, and Land Art in the construction of simple shapes. Minimal Art proved highly successful and has been enormously influential on the development of art in the 20th century.

Conceptual Art: On Kawara

Pop Art: Madonna

Land Art