Title: A Brief History of Minimalism: How the Minimalist Movement Happened
Headings: History of Minimalism: How the Minimalist Movement Happened
History of Minimalism: How the Minimalist Movement Happened
Minimalist Design
A Brief History of Minimalism
Here are a few highlights from the past 200 years:
1800-1850: Introducing Simple Living in America
1920-1930: The Elevated Design Era
1960-1970: Minimalist Expansion
1980-2000: Adaptation of Simple Living
2000 – Present: Minimalism Becomes Mainstream
Important Figures in the Minimalist Movement
Donald Judd
Carl Andre
Dan Flavin
Summary of the History of Minimalism
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Content: The Elevated Design Era
The modern style that the word minimalism is most associated with was heavily influenced by the Bauhaus School’s ideal of balancing beauty with utility in product design. In the Bauhaus Era, teachers and students of the school offered an alternative to uninspiring manufactured products and reimagined the role art could play in society. By injecting creativity and thoughtfulness into the production of otherwise cheap and ubiquitous items, the Bauhaus school inspired the concept of elevated design for everyday life. 1960-1970: Minimalist Expansion
The word minimalism itself gains popularity amongst certain groups of young artists in the 60s who resisted the stifling conventions of fine art (such as abstract painter Agnes Martin, sculptor and artist Donald Judd, artist Frank Stella and others). Minimalism started being used as a colloquial term in writing, painting, architecture, and other aesthetic, design, and creative fields. Minimalists started to break off from the Abstract Expressionism of previous generations, removing the storytelling or metaphors from their art and focusing on industrial materials, white space, and sleek, simplistic works. Moreover, in the 70s Dieter Rams introduced his principles of good design and ever since has been praised as one of the most influential figures in the pared back, user-friendly product design trend that’s so commonly called minimalist design. 1980-2000: Adaptation of Simple Living
The next stage of the history of minimalism saw an ongoing increase in the simple art and simple living movements.