Minimalism was an art movement concerned with extreme abstraction and reducing art to its purest form. Minimalism emerged in the United States in the 1960s as a reaction against the passion of the Abstract Expressionists and the strict distinctions between painting and sculpture. Minimalist artists were interested in blurring the lines between art forms and rebelling against elitism in the art world. Minimalism developed concurrently with Conceptual Art, which valued the idea behind the artwork over the art object. Minimalist artwork was cool, calculated, and reductive.

Minimalists were inspired by the early twentieth century movements of Constructivism and De Stijl. Russian Constructivism was an analytical art movement concerned with modular fabrication and construction rather than handcrafted artworks. Unlike Abstract Expressionists, Minimalists sought to produce art that was not personal and did not show the hand of the artist. This led Minimalists to use manufactured materials. Donald Judd often worked in concrete, Carl Andre used bricks and steel plates, and Dan Flavin used fluorescent lights. Dutch De Stijl paintings employed extreme abstraction, featuring geometric shapes in primary colors. Minimalists continued this pursuit of purity in sculpture and painting.

Simplicity, order, and purity of form are hallmarks of Minimalism. Minimalist art relies on simple geometric forms, singular or repeated. This emphasizes the materiality of the work. Minimalist art engages with its location; often sculptures are placed directly on the floor or leaning against a wall. Minimalists were interested in perception of space and wanted their works to make people aware of the space they occupied.

Artists like Donald Judd, Carl Andre, and Dan Flavin were key in developing Minimalism. Other minimalist artists include Robert Irwin, Sol LeWitt, Robert Ryman, and Agnes Martin. By the late 1960s, minimalist art was diversifying in so many directions that it was no longer a single discernable style. Many artists moved on from minimalist objects to develop large scale installations, leading to the development of Land Art, and Installation Art.