Barnett Newman (January 29, 1905 – July 4, 1970)

                                                                                                                       

Achilles

1952

I often feel that talking at length about Minimalism is somewhat contradictory to any sort of strong attempt at defining it (though this could be more semantics than metaphysics at play). Also, since I don't quite know how long my weak internet connection will last today, it might be better to let the Minimalist of the post to speak on my, or rather his, behalf; "What is the explanation of the seemingly insane drive of man to be painter and poet if it is not an act of defiance against man's fall and an assertion that he return to the Garden of Eden? For the artists are the first men."

Now II

1984

Yellow Painting

1949

Adam

1952

Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue?

1966

Jericho

1968-1969

Adolph Gottlieb (March 14, 1903 - March 4, 1974)

                                                                                                    

Burst 1973

1973 

Gottlieb once said "I did have certain symbols that were repeated and carried over from one painting to another. But my favorite symbols were those which I didn't understand." And I suppose that characterizes Gottlieb's career quite well: he began with Expressionism and moved, more and more, towards an extremely simplistic form of Abstract Expressionism. Gottlieb's abstraction is highly stylized, usually conforming to his extremely strong sense of composition.

The Natural Swimming Pool

1937

Sailor's Charm

1945

Dialogue I

1960

Untitled

1934

Sounds in the Night

1948

Ascension

1958

Kenneth Noland (April 10, 1924 – January 5, 2010)

                                                                                                  

Swirl

1960

One of the most famous Color Field painters, Noland's targets became practically symbolic of the movement. Through a large portion of his career, he concentrated on reproducing a few shapes in a wild amount of variations, such as circles, triangles and straight lines. He died a tiny, tiny bit over a year ago–somehow I find that incidental piece of information eerie.   

Jazz

1983

Wild Indigo

1987

Luminous Reflections

1985-1986

Flutter

1960

Mark Rothko (September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970)

                                                    

No. 1

1962

Mark Rothko is very well known for his pieces that deal with rectangles, usually, but not always, as a set of three rectangles placed one above the other (this style is known as Color Field). Two such pieces are shown directly above and below this paragraph. 

Earth and Green

1955

Rothko also experimented with various other styles, including different varieties of Abstraction and Expressionism. I've placed a few especially beautiful paintings below. 

Untitled

1939

Untitled

1944-1945

Underground Fantasy

1940