Book excerpt: The bare minimum Often regarded as a backlash against abstract expressionism, Minimalism was characterized by simplified, stripped-down forms and materials used to express ideas in a direct and impersonal manner. By presenting artworks as simple objects, minimalist artists sought to communicate esthetic ideals without reference to expressive or historical themes. This critical movement, which began in the 1960s and branched out into land art, performance art, and conceptual art, is still a major influence today. This book explains the how, why, where and when of Minimal Art, and the artists who helped define it. Featured artists: Carl Andre, Stephen Antonakos, Jo Baer, Larry Bell, Ronald Bladen, Walter De Maria, Dan Flavin, Robert Grosvenor, Eva Hesse, Donald Judd, Gary Kuehn, Sol LeWitt, Robert Mangold, John McCracken, Robert Morris, Robert Ryman, Fred Sandback, Richard Serra, Tony Smith, Frank Stella, Robert Smithson, Anne Truitt About the Series: Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Genre Series features: a detailed illustrated introduction plus a timeline of the most important political, cultural and social events that took place during that period a selection of the most important works of the epoch, each of which is presented on a 2-page spread with a full-page image and with an interpretation of the respective work, plus a portrait and brief biography of the artist approximately 100 colour illustrations with explanatory captions