Many artists dropped paintings and sculpture altogether in favour of objects, questioning the conventional boundaries of what can be considered an artwork. They were inspired by the freshened ideas coming from European movements such as the Dutch De Stijl or the German Bauhaus, which were not only far beyond the traditional attitude towards painting and sculpture, but also very distant from Abstract Expressionism’s influence: Surrealism. In stark opposition to this movement, by late 1950s a group of young artists like Robert Morris, Donald Judd and Dan Flavin were gradually drifting away towards new definitions of visual arts. It was characterised by loose, gestural and spontaneous works a strong emotional and “dramatic” content and a profound biographical component in each artwork. In the 1940s and 1950s, Abstract Expressionism was the dominant art movement in the US. They firmly rejected the over-dramaticity and over expressivity of Abstract Expressionism, favouring the purity, beauty and anonymity of the art object itself. The movement is born in reaction to forms of artistic expression that Minimalist artists considered too academic and stale. Minimalist artists do not express feelings nor experiences, they rather focus on highlighting the purity and true essence of the material or of the medium to develop the art itself. The material, the medium, the form of the artwork is the reality there is no other intent. These words by Robert Morris describe well the essence of Minimalism. “No to transcendence and spiritual values, heroic scale, anguished decisions, historicizing narrative, valuable artifact, intelligent structure, interesting visual experience”. What's minimal about Minimal Art? - The art of the Century in 26 powerful movements Related articles: Another tribute to minimal art. - Donald Judd. Clear geometric shapes, simplicity and a deliberate lack of expressive content characterise Minimalist artworks. Minimalism is an influential art movement that emerged in the US in the 1960s.
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