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. Prominent artists associated with this movement include
Ad Reinhardt,
Tony Smith,
Donald Judd,
John McCracken,
Agnes Martin,
Dan Flavin,
Robert Morris,
Larry Bell,
Anne Truitt, and
Frank Stella. Artists themselves have sometimes reacted against the label due to the negative implication of the work being simplistic. Minimalism is often interpreted as a reaction against
Abstract expressionism and a bridge to
Postminimal art practices.