A work in progress, the following chronology includes major events, exhibitions, and writings in the development of reductive and concept-based art in Europe, and subsequently in South and North America. Recommendations for additional information are welcome — please contact MINUS SPACE.
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europe |
south america |
north america |
australasia / asia / africa |
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1950 |
"Los Disidentes" form as a group in Paris in 1950; During the 1940s, a group of young Venezuelan artists rejected the traditional education offered by Caracas’ art schools and went abroad in search of fresh ideas and new opportunities. "Los Disidentes" reject the landscape painting and Nativist styles that are then popular in Venezuela and become devotees of geometric abstraction; The expatriate Venezuelans present themselves as an avant-garde collective, in synch with the latest developments in the international art world. The group includes artists Alejandro Otero, Mateo Manaure, Narciso Debourg, Pascual Navarro, Perán Erminy, Carlos González Bogen, Aimée Battistini, Armando Barrios, Luis Guevara Moreno, Dora Hersen, Rubén Núñez, dancer Belén Núñez, and philosopher J.M. Guillent Pérez; They are later joined by César Enríquez, Alirio Oramas, Oswaldo Vigas, Genaro Moreno, Omar Carreño, Miguel Arroyo, Régulo Pérez and Luis E. Chávez; The artists begin publishing a controversial journal, also called "Los Disidentes"; The work of Los Disidentes begin to forge a new path for art in their native Venezuela, where artists and intellectuals seek to create a cosmopolitan culture.
Carlos Cruz-Diez, Jesús Rafael Soto, and other Venezuelan artists living in Paris in the 1950s contribute significantly to the development of kinetic art; Building on a foundation of geometric abstraction and influenced by the work of Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, kinetic artists develop abstract works with kinetic and optical effects, forging a direct relationship between technology and art; Kinetic art is not a purely visual form but rather a perceptive one that involves tactile and auditory, as well as visual, experience; Kinetic work requires spectators to actively participate in an art experience; the introduction of viewer movement into a work of art is one of Kinetic art’s most valuable achievements; Cruz-Diez carries out an exhaustive investigation of color, leading him to optical illusions in which colors that are not physically present in the work are perceived by the eye; Soto experiments with light and movement with the goal of creating a state of “pure vibration” in works that could be passed in front of or walked through
Victor Vasarely becomes interested in the effects of visual vibrations
Wolfgang Laib is born
Gerhard Mantz is born in Neu-Ulm, Germany |
Swiss Concrete artist Max Bill's exhibition at the Museu de Arte in São Paulo, Brazil; Contributes greatly to the development of Brazilian Concrete abstraction
Concrete Art movement begins in Brazil; Grounded in the theories of the Bauhaus, Concrete artists work with the rigid formulas of mathematical equations and the pragmatic logic of architecture
After 1950, geometric and constructive art – particularly optical and Kinetic art – takes off in Venezuela; Among the Venezuelan artists working in geometric abstraction are Alejandro Otero, Jesús Rafael Soto, Omar Carreño, Mateo Manaure, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Carlos González Bogen, Ramón Vásquez Brito, Pascual Navarro, Luis Guevara Moreno, Víctor Valera, Elsa Gramcko, Oswaldo Vigas, and Gego
Lygia Clark travels to Paris to study painting; Studies with Fernand Leger
Jesús Rafael Soto relocates to Paris, France |
Josef Albers begins teaching at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut (through 1960); Begins "Homage to the Square" series, which he will focus on through 1976
Barnett Newman mounts first solo exhibition in New York
Richard Bottwin is born in Jersey City, New Jersey
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| 1951 |
Max Bill helps found and teaches at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Ulm, Germany (1951-1956)
Ralph Eck is born in Unterpörlitz bei Limenau, Germany
David Thomas is born on August 22 in Belfast, North Ireland |
Swiss Concrete artist Max Bill wins the sculpture prize at the first São Paulo Bienal, Brazil |
Andrew Ritchie organizes the exhibition "Abstract Painting and Sculpture in America" at the Museum of Modern Art, New York
Burgoyne Diller mounts his third solo exhibition at Rose Fried Gallery (formerly The Pinacotheca)
Robert Rauschenberg begins painting his "White Paintings"
Charmion von Wiegand becomes President of American Abstract Artists (1951-53)
Dorothea Rockburne studies at Black Mountain College, Asheville, North Carolina (thru 1955)
Tibor de Nagy Gallery opens in New York, New York
Craig Ellwood designs and builds Case Study House, No. 16, in Los Angeles, CA |
Stephen Bambury is born in Christchurch, New Zealand |
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| 1952 |
Wladyslaw Strzemenski dies on December 26 in Lodz, Poland
Gerald Rockenschaub is born in Linz, Austria
Elmer is born in Copenhagen, Denmark
Renaud Jacquier-Stajnowicz is born in France |
Concrete art collective "Grupo Frente" is founded by abstract artist Ivan Serpa in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; The group’s members included the brothers César and Hélio Oiticica, Décio Vieira, Aluísio Carvão, João José da Costa, and Lygia Pape; Grupo Frente is interested in representing organic forms in their work while remaining within the nonfigurative, geometric conventions of Concrete art
"Grupo Ruptura" was founded by artists Waldemar Cordeiro, Luís Sacilotto, Lothar Charoux, Geraldo de Barros, Kazmer Féjer, Leopold Haar, and Anatol Wladislaw in São Paulo, Brazil; They were followers of the theoretical principles of international Concrete art - based on theories elaborated by the Dutch artist Theo van Doesburg in 1930 and taken up after his death by the Swiss artist Max Bill; "Grupo Ruptura" promoted objectivity, seeking to exclude representation and eliminate any trace of subjectivity in works of art; Form was the essential element of any painting, color was subordinate |
Robert Rauschenberg, Merce Cunningham, and John Cage collaborate at Black Mountain College, North Carolina
John Cage's 4'33" is performed by David Tudor in Woodstock, New York
Tanager Gallery and Hansa Gallery open in New York, New York starting the run of 10th Street artist-run cooperatives
John McLaughlin mounts first solo exhibition at Felix Landau Gallery in Los Angeles, California
Don Voisine is born in Fort Kent, Maine
Alan Ebnother is born in Alameda, California
Russell Maltz is born in Brooklyn, New York |
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| 1953 |
The first issue of "spirale" is published, a review founded by Marcel Wyss, Dieter Roth, and Eugen Gomringer in Bern, Switzerland; Published until 1963
Antoine Perrot is born in Toulon, France |
Swiss Concrete artist Max Bill returns to Brazil to lecture
"Grupo Frente’s" first exhibition presented at the Instituto Cultural Brasil-Estados Unidos (Brazil-United States Cultural Institute) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The first national Brazilian exhibition of abstract art is held in Petropolis, Brazil |
Martha Jackson Gallery opens in New York, New York
Morgan Russell dies on May 29 in Broomall, Pennsylvania
Peter Halley is born on September 26 in New York, New York
Stephen Westfall is born in Schenectady, New York
Joan Waltemath is born in Nebraska
Beauford Delaney leaves New York for Europe, settling in Paris |
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| 1954 |
Max Bill's essay "The Mathematical Approach in Contemporary Art" drawing attention to the significance of mathematical thinking in art is published in Arts and Architecture
Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart moves to Ulm, Germany
Rolf Eisenberg is born in Sigmaringen, Germany
Willi Otremba is born in Bochum, Germany
Hans Luckhardt dies on October 8 in Berlin, Germany
Franz Singer dies on October 5 in Berlin, Germany
Nikolaj Michajlovich Suetin dies in Leningrad, Russia |
Daniel Feingold is born in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil |
Ralph Humphrey begins making monochrome paintings
Agnes Martin begins making her first semi-abstract work in Taos, New Mexico; Betty Parsons sees her work, buys 5 paintings from her, and invites her to join her gallery; Parsons stipulates that Martin move to New York City
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe designs the Seagram Building in New York, NY
Ellsworth Kelly returns to New York from Paris
The Whitney Museum of American Art moves to West 54th Street in New York City
Robert Gober is born
Jill Baroff is born in Summit, New Jersey
Carmen Herrera moves permanently to New York, NY |
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| 1955 |
Vasarely, Yaacov Agam, Jean Tinguely, Pol Bury, Jesús Rafael Soto, and others are included in the exhibition "Le Mouvement" at the Galerie Denise René in Paris that launched the Kinetic Art movment
Václav Fiala is born in Klatovy, Czech Republic
Uwe Kubiak is born in Aachen, Germany
Beat Zoderer is born in Zurich, Switzerland
Willi Baumeister dies on August 31 in Stuttgart, Germany
Fernand Léger dies on August 17 in Gif-sur-Yvette, Seine-et-Oise
Ruth Campau is born on th island of Mors, Denmark |
Grupo Frente's second exhibition at Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Lygia Clark works on a house project with arquitect Oscar Niemeyer, Belo Horizonte, Brazil |
David Diao relocates from China to the United States
Roni Horn is born
Philip Taaffe is born in Elizabeth, New Jersey
Michael Rouillard is born in Valparaiso, Florida |
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| 1956 |
Alexander Rodchenko dies in Moscow, Russia
Josef Hartwig dies on November 13 in Frankfurt, Germany
Edgar Hecht dies in Tel Aviv, Israel
Iwan Puni (Jean Pougny) dies in Paris, France |
Helio Oiticica develops work along abstract and concrete lines in gouache on paper
The first national exhibition of Concrete art opens in São Paulo and travels to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; During the exhibition, São Paulo's geometric artist group, "Grupo Ruptura", attacked the members of "Grupo Frente", accusing them of lacking structural rigor in their works and permitting lyrical expression; "Grupo Frente" breaks up |
John Cage begins teaching at the New York School for Social Research (through 1960); His class influences future Fluxus artists
Pierre Koenig designs and builds the Bailey House, Case Study House No. 21, in Los Angeles, CA
John and Nicholas Krushenick found Brata Gallery on 10th Street in New York, NY; Al Held and George Sugarman are among the first exhibiting artists
Ralph Humphrey moves to New York City
Warren Isensee is born in Asheville, North Carolina
Gilbert Hsiao is born in Pennsylvania; Raised in Terre Haute, Indiana |
The exhibition "Direction 1", held at the Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, Australia, broadens interest in abstract art
Andrew Leslie is born in Australia |
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| 1957 |
The book "Kalte Kunst?: zum Standort der heutigen Malerei" by Karl Gerstner is published
Frantisek Kupka dies on Juen 21 in Puteaux, Paris France
Wyndham Lewis dies on March 7 in London, England
Günter Wolf is born in Kreuznach, Germany
Karin Sander is born
Ernst Louis Beck dies on June 19 in Ebingen, Württemberg
Tumi Magnusson is born in Reykjavik, Iceland |
Helio Oiticica begins production of "Metaesquemas"; Participates in the exhibition "Modern Art in Brazil" at the Museo Nacional de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Brazilian Concrete group's second collective exhibition in Rio de Janeiro; Group begins to fracture along geographical lines; São Paulo artists, known as "Grupo Ruptura", focus on the pure visual experience of form, excluding any symbolic references in their paintings
Gego makes first sculpture encouraged by Alejandro Otero and Jesus Rafael Soto; Participates in the exhibition "Arte Abstracto en Venezuela", along with Otero, Soto, and Cruz-Diez
Mathias Goeritz and Luis Barragan collaborate on the Towers of Satellite City in Mexico City, Mexico
Lygia Clark studies the work of Josef and Anni Albers |
Black Mountain College in North Carolina is closed due to lack of funds
Agnes Martin moves to New York City; She locates to Coenties Slip near Wall Street; Neighbors included Ellsworth Kelly, Lenore Tawney, Jack Youngerman, and Robert Indiana; Barnett Newman had a studio nearby
Leo Castelli and Ileana Sonnabend (later marrried name) found Leo Castelli Gallery in their living room in New York, New York
The Metropolitan Museum of Art buys Jackson Pollock's painting "Autumn Rhythm" for $30,000, stunning the art world
Donald Judd mounts first solo exhibition at Panoras Gallery in New York
Felix Gonzalez-Torres is born |
Billy Gruner is born on September 11 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Christopher Snee is born in Melbourne, Australia |
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| 1958 |
"Movimento arte concreta", an
Italian art movement founded in Milan in December 1948, disbands after the death of its founder Gianni Monnet
The first issue of "structure" is published, an annual on new art, edited by J. Baljeu; Published until 1964
Giacomo Balla dies on March 1 in Rome, Italy
Jean Crotti dies on January 30 in Paris, France
Bart van der Leck dies on November 13 in Blaricum, The Netherlands
Martin Willing is born in Bocholt, Germany
Maik Löbbert is born in Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Heimo Zobernig is born in Mauthen, Austria |
Gego begins working with volumes, using aluminum and steel geometric planes
Lygia Clark exhibits with Lothar Charoux and Franz Weissmann at the Galeria de Arte das Folhas |
Josef Albers retires as Chair of Department of Design at Yale University; Remains a visiting professor until 1960
The Whitney Museum of American Art and Museum of Modern Art acquires works by Burgoyne Diller; He begins working with Galerie Chalette; His first solo exhibition is mounted in May 1961
Jasper Johns mounts first solo exhibition a Leo Castelli Gallery, New York, New York
Yayoi Kusama moves from Japan to New York City
Joe Overstreet moves to New York City
Kevin Finklea is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Marcie Miller Gross is born in Kansas City, Kansas
Steven Parrino is born in New York, New York |
David Thomas arrives in Australia
Jurek Wybraniec is born in Perth, Australia |
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| 1959 |
Tilman is born in Munich, Germany
Daniel Göttin is born in Basel, Switzerland
Michael Mork is born in Herning, Denmark |
Brazilian poet Ferreira Gullar publishes the "Manifesto neoconcreto" marking the emergence of the Neo-Concrete movement and the end of collaboration between the Brazilian Concrete artists from Rio de Janeiro, Grupo Ruptura, and São Paulo, "Grupo Frente"; The schism widens during the first exhibition of Neo-Concrete art at the Museu de Arte Moderna in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Neo-Concrete art, a reaction against the rationalism of art, espoused a creative freedom that linked it closer to the ideals of "Grupo Frente"; Founding members included Lygia Clark, Amílcar de Castro, Franz Weissmann,and Lygia Pape; Hélio Oiticica, Aluísio Carvão, Willys de Castro, and Hércules Barsotti joined shortly thereafter
"Grupo Ruptura" disbanded in São Paulo, Brazil
Carlos Cruz-Diez makes a short film about Gego's sculptures entitled, "Movement and Vibration in Space: A Sculpture by Gego", edited at Iowa State University; Gego travels to USA for one year, lives in Iowa; Makes sculpture Esfera (Sphere)
Helio Oiticica experiments on the transition from canvas to three-dimensional space; Begins to develop his "Inventions" also called "Monochromatics"; Works on the "White Paintings, Bilateral and Spatial Reliefs"; Classifies his work as non-objects (following Ferreira Gullar's Theory of the Non-Object)
Lygia Clark participates in exhibition Brasilianischer Kunstler at the Haus derKunst, Munich, Germany |
"Sixteen Americans" exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York; Curated by Dorothy Miller; The 23-year-old Frank Stella exhibits four of his "Black Paintings"
"Four Abstract Classicists" exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Art, includes artists John McLaughlin, Lorser Feitelson, Karl Benjamin and Frederick Hammersley, curated by Jules Langsner; Travels to Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Institute of Contemporary Art in London, and Queens University in Belfast
Donald Judd begins writing for Arts Magazine
Carl Andre begins making repetitive-shaped sculptures
Frank Stella declares himself an opponent of "relational" painting
Robert Ryman begins making monochrome white canvases
Allan Kaprow stages "18 Happenings in 6 Parts" in New York, New York
The Museum of Non-Objective Painting is renamed the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and opens its first permanent home on 5th Avenue in New York, New York; Building is designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright
Al Held mounts first solo exhibition at Poindexter Gallery in New York, New York
Daniel Levine is born in New York, New York |
Rose Nolan is born in Melbourne, Australia
Vicente Butron is born in Manila, The Philippines |
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