Minimalism is an art movement that began after World War II in Western art. It is often seen as a response to abstract expressionism and modernism. This movement influenced later art styles that either expanded on or thoughtfully examined minimalism’s original goals. Minimalism focused on using the simplest elements in art, emphasizing the object itself and how viewers experience it with little influence from the artist. Artists linked to minimalism include Donald Judd, Agnes Martin, Dan Flavin, Carl Andre, Robert Morris, Anne Truitt, and Frank Stella.
In music, minimalism uses techniques such as repetition and slow changes, as seen in the works of La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Julius Eastman, and John Adams. The term is sometimes used to describe the plays and books of Samuel Beckett, the films of Robert Bresson, the stories of Raymond Carver, and the car designs of Colin Chapman. In recent years, minimalism has come to describe anything that is simple or reduced to its most basic parts.
Visual arts and literalist art
Minimalism in visual art, also known as "minimal art" or "literalist art," is an art movement that started in New York in the early 1960s. It developed as a response to a style of art called abstract expressionism. Artists who worked in painting and were linked to Minimalism include Nassos Daphnis, Frank Stella, Kenneth Noland, Al Held, Ellsworth Kelly, Robert Ryman, and others. Artists who created sculptures connected to Minimalism include Donald Judd, Dan Flavin, David Smith, Anthony Caro, and others. In painting, Minimalism is often described by the use of sharp, clear edges, straight lines, simple shapes, and a focus on flat, two-dimensional surfaces.
American minimalist artists were influenced by earlier European abstract art movements. At the time, New York hosted exhibitions featuring artists from the German Bauhaus movement, Russian Constructivists, and Dutch De Stijl artists. These groups created strong abstract styles that inspired artists like Robert Morris, Dan Flavin, and Donald Judd to explore new artistic directions. These artists aimed to create art that would immediately capture the viewer's attention through visual elements alone, without referencing anything else. They removed personal, expressive elements from their work to focus only on the visible parts of art.
Minimalism was partly a reaction to the expressive, personal style of Abstract Expressionism, which was popular in New York during the 1940s and 1950s. Artists who created Minimalism were not satisfied with the spontaneous, emotional qualities of Abstract Expressionism. They believed that art should exist only as itself, without connections to other ideas or meanings.
In 1964, Donald Judd's work was displayed at the Green Gallery in Manhattan, New York City, along with Dan Flavin's first fluorescent light sculptures. Other galleries in Manhattan, such as Leo Castelli Gallery and Pace Gallery, also began showing artists who focused on minimalist ideas.
In sculpture, Minimalism is often defined by simple geometric shapes made from industrial materials like plastic, metal, aluminum, concrete, and fiberglass. These materials are typically left in their natural state or painted a single solid color.
In a broader sense, Minimalism as a visual approach can be traced back to the geometric styles of artists from the Bauhaus movement, as well as the works of Kazimir Malevich, Piet Mondrian, and others connected to the De Stijl and Russian Constructivist movements. It also appears in the sculptures of Constantin Brâncuși.
As a formal technique, Minimalism has been used in the paintings of Barnett Newman, Ad Reinhardt, and Josef Albers, as well as in the works of artists like Pablo Picasso, Yayoi Kusama, and Giorgio Morandi. Yves Klein explored Minimalism through his monochrome paintings, starting as early as 1949. His first private exhibition of these works was in 1950, and his first public display was in the book Yves: Peintures in November 1954.
Michael Fried referred to minimalist artists as "literalists" and used the term negatively. He believed that art should create a meaningful experience through metaphors, symbols, and stylized forms. Fried argued that literalist art requires viewers to recognize it as art. For example, a typical sculpture remains a work of art even if it is not seen, but a sculpture like Donald Judd's is simply an object waiting for someone to see it and accept it as art.
Design, architecture, and spaces
The term minimalism describes a trend in design and architecture where only the most important parts of a building or object are used. Minimalist architects focus on using empty space wisely, choosing neutral colors, and avoiding extra decorations. This approach highlights the look, feel, and texture of materials. Minimalist architecture became popular in the late 1980s in London, England, and New York City. Architects and fashion designers worked together in stores to create simple spaces with white elements, cool lighting, and large areas with few furnishings or decorations.
The works of De Stijl artists are an important influence. This movement organized basic elements like lines and shapes carefully. In 1924, The Rietveld Schroder House was built for Truus Schröder-Schräder. This house shows De Stijl’s ideas about how form and function should work together. Some modern "minimalistic" home designs are not truly minimalistic because they are larger and use more expensive materials.
Minimalist design was strongly influenced by Japanese traditional architecture and design. Before Western minimalism and before World War II, minimalism was practiced in East Asia as a way of life, not just an art movement. Some people say minimalism began as a reaction to the noise and confusion of city life. For example, in the 1980s, Japan started using minimalist design because cities were growing quickly and becoming crowded. This style helped people deal with the problems of too much traffic, advertising, and buildings of different sizes. The chaos came from urbanization, technology, and the need to rebuild after World War II and natural disasters like earthquakes. Minimalism was already part of Japanese culture, rooted in Zen philosophy, which focuses on simplicity and nature.
Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886–1969) used the phrase "Less is more" to describe his style. He arranged a building’s parts to create a simple look, making each element serve many purposes, like using a floor as a heater or a fireplace as a bathroom. Designer Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983) focused on using fewer resources for better results, but his work was more about technology than appearance.
The goal of minimalist architecture is to remove all unnecessary parts and create simplicity. It is not completely without decoration, but every detail is reduced to the point where nothing can be taken away without harming the design.
Important factors in minimalist design include light, shape, materials, space, and how people live. Architects think about more than just the building’s physical parts. They consider how people, nature, and materials interact to reveal hidden qualities like natural light, air, and the sky. They also look at the environment around the building to choose the best materials and create connections between the structure and its location.
In minimalist design, simple shapes, plain materials, and repeated patterns show order and focus on essentials. Natural light helps create clean, open spaces. In the late 1800s, the Arts and Crafts movement in Britain valued using materials in their natural state. Minimalist architects respect this idea by finding beauty in simple, everyday materials. Minimalist spaces aim to reduce clutter, improve function, and create calm and peaceful feelings. Architects often follow three rules: the "in, one out" rule, organizing spaces by zones, and the "90/90" rule.
The idea of simplicity appears in many cultures, especially in Japanese Zen Buddhist philosophy. Japanese architects use Zen ideas in their designs, which influenced Western societies, especially in America since the mid-1800s. This inspired minimalist architecture in the 20th century.
Zen philosophy teaches that simplicity brings freedom and helps people understand the true nature of life. It is not just about appearance but also about the moral value of truth and the hidden qualities of materials. For example, the sand garden at Ryōan-ji temple shows simplicity through the careful placement of a few stones and open space.
The Japanese concept of "Ma" refers to empty or open space. It removes unnecessary walls to create the most essential feeling. The Japanese idea of "wabi-sabi" values simple, plain objects and finds beauty in quietness and the natural character of materials. For example, in the Japanese art of ikebana, flowers are arranged to let them express their own beauty, with only the most important parts kept.
Japanese architect Tadao Ando uses materials like concrete and wood, along with simple shapes and nature, to create calm and open spaces. He designs buildings that connect with the environment and use light to create harmony. His work reflects traditional Japanese values and influences modern Japanese architecture.
Another Japanese architect, Kazuyo Sejima, works alone and with Ryue Nishizawa as SANAA. She creates minimalist buildings with white colors, thin structures, and transparent elements. Examples of her work include the New Museum in New York City, a Small House in Tokyo, and a House Surrounded by Plum Trees in Tokyo.
In the Vitra Conference Pavilion in Weil am Rhein, Germany (1993), the design connects the building, people, the land, and nature. This shows a key idea in minimalism: creating a dialogue between the building and its surroundings. The structure uses simple shapes like circles and rectangles to contrast filled and empty spaces inside and outside. In the entrance area, the design highlights the relationship between the building and its environment.
Literature
Literary minimalism uses few words and focuses on simple descriptions. Writers who follow this style avoid using adverbs and let the context explain the meaning. Readers are expected to figure out the story themselves by using hints and suggestions, rather than following direct instructions from the writer.
Austrian architect and theorist Adolf Loos wrote about minimalism in his work Ornament and Crime.
Early writers who influenced literary minimalism include Stephen Crane and Ernest Hemingway.
Some crime fiction from the 1940s, written by authors like James M. Cain and Jim Thompson, used simple, direct language. This style is sometimes called minimalism.
Another form of literary minimalism developed in the 1960s and 1970s as a response to the metafiction trend. Writers such as John Barth, Robert Coover, and William H. Gass used sparse language and kept emotional distance from their subjects.
Writers known for their minimalist style, or who used minimalism during parts of their careers, include Raymond Carver, Ann Beattie, Bret Easton Ellis, Charles Bukowski, K. J. Stevens, Amy Hempel, Bobbie Ann Mason, Tobias Wolff, Grace Paley, Sandra Cisneros, Mary Robison, Frederick Barthelme, Richard Ford, Patrick Holland, Cormac McCarthy, David Leavitt, and Alicia Erian.
American poets like William Carlos Williams, early Ezra Pound, Robert Creeley, Robert Grenier, Aram Saroyan, BpNichol, and Geof Huth are sometimes linked to minimalism. Aram Saroyan is famous for his one-word poem "lighght," which was included in The American Literary Anthology and won a $750 prize from the National Endowment for the Arts. This caused controversy among some conservative politicians, such as Jesse Helms. BpNichol, a Canadian poet, is known for minimalist poems like "str," "em ty," and "groww." These poems were collected in an anthology called The Alphabet Game*, edited by Darren Werschler-Henry and Lori Emerson. Geof Huth is also known for creating minimalist poetry, including his concept of the "pwoermd," a poem made up of only one word. Some minimalist poetry may overlap with visual poetry, especially when the poem’s meaning is supported by its visual design. The term "minimalism" is also connected to haiku, a short poetic form from Japan. In English literature, poets like Nick Virgilio, Raymond Roseliep, and George Swede have adapted haiku.
The Irish writer Samuel Beckett and the Norwegian writer Jon Fosse are known for their minimalist plays and prose.
Dimitris Lyacos’s With the People from the Bridge, which uses simple monologues and minimal storytelling, is a modern example of minimalist writing in plays.
In his novel The Easy Chain, Evan Dara includes a 60-page section inspired by the musical style of composer Steve Reich. This section uses repeated and evolving phrases to represent the main character’s state of agitation.
Music
The term "minimal music" was created around 1970 by Michael Nyman, inspired by the idea of minimalism, which was first used in visual arts. Specifically, Nyman first used the term in a 1968 article in The Spectator to describe a ten-minute piano piece by the Danish composer Henning Christiansen. The article also mentioned several other unnamed works performed by Charlotte Moorman and Nam June Paik at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London.
The origins of minimal music are older. In France, Yves Klein is said to have created his Monotone Symphony (officially titled The Monotone-Silence Symphony) between 1947 and 1949, though it was first performed in 1960. This piece included a single 20-minute sustained chord followed by 20 minutes of silence.
Film and cinema
In film, minimalism is often linked to directors like Robert Bresson, Chantal Akerman, Carl Theodor Dreyer, and Yasujirō Ozu. Their movies usually have simple stories, use basic camera techniques, and include little music. Paul Schrader called this style of filmmaking "transcendental cinema." Today, filmmakers who follow minimalist principles can be found in movements such as Dogme 95, mumblecore, and the Romanian New Wave. Directors like Abbas Kiarostami, Elia Suleiman, and Kelly Reichardt are also known for their minimalist approach.
The Minimalists — Joshua Fields Millburn, Ryan Nicodemus, and Matt D'Avella — created and directed the film Minimalism: A Documentary, which explores the idea of living with fewer possessions in the modern world.
In other fields
A capsule wardrobe is a type of clothing collection that follows the idea of minimalism in fashion. It is made with a few basic items that stay in style and usually uses only one or two colors. These wardrobes are designed to be simple, easy to mix and match, and can include seasonal clothing when needed. The modern concept of a capsule wardrobe began in the 1970s, created by Susie Faux, a London boutique owner. Later, in the 1980s, American fashion designer Donna Karan helped make this idea more popular by creating a collection of capsule workwear in 1985.
To explain global warming to people who are not scientists, British climate scientist Ed Hawkins created warming stripes in 2018. These graphics use only color to show temperature changes over time, avoiding scientific terms to make them easier to understand. Hawkins said that people can understand the meaning of the stripes without needing to think about technical details.
Warming stripe graphics look similar to art that uses large areas of color, such as color field paintings. This type of art removes distractions and focuses only on color to convey meaning. Artist Barnett Newman, known for color field paintings, once said he wanted to create images that clearly show their own meaning. Hawkins used this same idea to help people understand climate change. Some people have said these graphics are suitable for places like the Museum of Modern Art or the Getty.
A tempestry is a type of tapestry that combines the words "temperature" and "tapestry." It uses colored yarn strips to represent different temperature ranges in specific areas. These tapestries show how global warming is happening in certain locations.
In a lifestyle that follows minimalism, people try to use only the most important materials and avoid using more than needed. Many terms have come from this idea, such as minimalist decor, skincare, style, and accessories. These terms describe using only the most necessary items in specific areas of life. This approach helps people focus on what matters most, reduces waste, and saves time by avoiding unnecessary purchases.
A minimalist lifestyle allows people to enjoy simple things that are easy to find without spending a lot of money or effort. It also helps reduce clutter in homes.