MinimalismObjects; and nothing more.

Beginnings• 1960s• Reaction to Abstract Expressionism• Reduction

Night Creatures—Lee Krasner

Untitled, 1969—Donald Judd

Philosophy• Eliminate emotions, allusions, and meanings• Create a single object• Move away from illusions and alternate

perceptions• Experience reality more directly

Artists• Frank Stella• Donald Judd

• Carl Andre• Sol LeWitt

• Robert Morris

• Dan Flavin

Frank Stella• Born 1936

• First minimalist

• Black paintings

• Portrait series

• Valparaiso series

• Ironic titles

“My painting is based on the fact that only what can be seen is

there. It really is an object […] you can see the whole without

confusion […] What you see is what you see.”

Frank StellaBlack Paintings

• Black Paint

• Internally defined

• Self-referential

• Objects

Tomlinson Court Park, 1967—Frank Stella

Marriage of Reason and Squalor, 1959—Frank Stella

Nunca Pasa Nada, 1964—Frank Stella

THE MAIN THING

WRONG

WITH PAINTING IS THAT IT IS A RECTANGULAR PLANE PLACED FLAT AGAINST ATHE

WALL. A RECTANGLE IS A SHAPE ITSELF; IT IS OBVIOUSLY THE WHOLE SHAPE; IT DETERMINES AND LIMITS THE ARRANGEMENT OF WHATEVER IS ON OR INSIDE OF IT.

—Donald Judd

Frank StellaPortrait Series, 1963

• Irregular shapes

• Internally defined

• Self-referential

• Objects

Carl Andre, Sidney Guberman, Leo Castelli

Frank StellaValparaiso Series

• Colorful

• Irregular shapes

• Internally defined

• Self-referential

• Objects

Empress of India, 1965—Frank Stella

Valparaiso Flesh and Green, 1963—Frank Stella

Donald Judd• 1928—1994

• Most Famous

• Simplicity

• Boxes

• Stacks

• Progressions

• Industrial

• Specific Objects

“It isn’t necessary for a work to have a lot of things to look at, to

compare, to analyze one by one, to contemplate. The thing as a

whole, its quality as a whole, is what is interesting. The main

things are alone and are more intense, clear and powerful.”

real materials existing in real space, 1968—Donald Judd

Large Stack, 1968—Donald Judd

Untitled, 1970—Donald Judd

Untitled (Progression), 1976—Donald Judd

Untitled (Progression), 1974—Donald Judd

Untitled (Progression), 1974G—Donald Judd

Carl Andre• Born 1935

• Close friend with Frank

Stella

• Influenced by

“constructivist”

technique and works by

Ezra Pound among other

pieces of literature

“Art excludes the

unnecessary. […] I’m not

interested in expression or

sensitivity.”

Essay on Sculpture, 1964—Carl Andre

Map of Poetry, 1966—Carl Andre

Poem, 1966—Carl Andre

•Before Carl Andre moved to sculpture, he was working with literature and philosophy

•Andre was influenced by the works of Ezra pound

•These poems came in the transition between literature and sculpture

•The “poems” are similar to minimalist sculpture in that the content is not important, while the physical structure is

Carl Andre

Andre worked with three types of minimalist sculpture in his career:

1. Sculpture as form2. Sculpture as structure3. Sculpture as place

Sculpture as Form

Timber Piece (Well), 1962—Carl Andre

•Pieces usually consisted of wooden blocks

•Always comprised of geometric shapes

•Stand vertical

•No complex shapes

The Way North, East, South, West, 1975—Carl Andre

Sculpture as Structure

Cedar Piece, 1959—Carl Andre

•Stacked units

•More complex shapes

•Usually stand vertical

Still Blue Range, 1989—Carl Andre

Sculpture as Place

Copper Ribbon, 1969—Carl Andre

•Less rigid characteristics than the other types of sculpture

•Pieces spread across the ground

•No definite size, shape, or material used

•The piece of art defines the space that it occupies

Untitled, 1972—Carl Andre

Sol LeWitt• 1928—2007

• Minimalist and

Conceptualist

• Repetitive forms

• Modular forms

• Seriality

“The use of serial ideas became my vocabulary, which by using

basic forms made a process of ideas.”

Floor Structure, Black, 1965—Sol LeWitt

K 1 2 3 4 5 6 #2, 1997—Sol LeWitt

Progressive Structure, 1997—Sol LeWitt

Modular Cube/Base, 1968—Sol LeWitt

Robert Morris• Born 1931

• Minimalist and

Conceptualist

• Outdoor art

• Viewer involvement

“Simplicity of shape does

not necessarily equate to

simplicity of experience.”

Wedges, 1970—Robert Morris

Bodyspacemotionthings, 1970—Robert Morris

Instillation, 1964—Robert Morris

Dan Flavin• 1933—1996

• Fluorescent lights

• Wanted viewers to

experience his art

• Influenced by lighting at

churches

• Started with abstract

expressionism

• First experimented with

found objects

“It is what it is, and it

ain't nothin' else...

Everything is clearly,

openly, plainly

delivered.”

Untitled (Corner Piece), 1969—Dan Flavin

Untitled, 1970—Dan Flavin

The diagonal of May 25, 1963, 1963—Dan Flavin

Untitled (site specific installation), 1969—Dan Flavin

http://flavin.pulitzerarts.org/#/installations/1/

Fluorescent light time lapse

Blue Intensity, 1968—Dan Flavin

Criticism• Not the work of the

artists• No skill• No meaning• Not beautiful• Not creative

Equivalent VIII, 1966—Carl Andre

Minimalism• Eliminate the unnecessary• Create a single object• Experience reality in the most direct way

“Everything is still. Everything is repeated. Everything is obvious. The accumulation of facts collapses perception. The indicated sum of these simple series is irreducible complexity. And impenetrable chaos. They astound.”

—Mel Bochner