Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially Visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts. As a specific movement in the arts it is identified with developments in post–World War II Western Art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Minimalism is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and a bridge to postminimal art practices. Prominent artists associated with this movement include Ad Reinhardt, Nassos Daphnis, Tony Smith, Donald Judd, John McCracken, Agnes Martin, Dan Flavin, Robert Morris, Larry Bell, Anne Truitt, Yves Klein and Frank Stella. Artists themselves have sometimes reacted against the label due to the negative implication of the work being simplistic.
Tony Smith, Free Ride, 1962, 6'8 × 6'8 × 6'8, Museum of Modern Art (New York City)
Donald Judd, Untitled, 1991, Israel Museum Art Garden, Jerusalem
Yves Klein, IKB 191, 1962, Monochrome painting. Klein was a pioneer in the development of minimal art.
Larry Bell, Untitled (1964), bismuth, chromium, gold, and rhodium on gold-plated brass; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Anthony Peter Smith was an American sculptor, visual artist, architectural designer, and a noted theorist on art. He is often cited as a pioneering figure in American Minimalist sculpture.
Throwback (3-3), 1976–1979
Light Up, 1974, outside the Hillman Library at the University of Pittsburgh
TAU, located in Smith's home town of South Orange. The sculpture is an example of the bold, angular shapes Smith used in the early 1960s.
The Fourth Sign, 1977, at the University of Hawaii at Manoa