Fundamental Painting

An illustrated account of the origins and legacy of Minimalist painting in the US and Europe through the lens of a landmark Stedelijk exhibition

The term "Fundamental Painting" was coined by the Stedelijk Museum as the title of a 1975 exhibition that sought to highlight a new kind of painting emerging on both sides of the Atlantic. The show was built around Robert Ryman, and included 18 artists from Europe and the US, such as Robert Mangold, Brice Marden, Agnes Martin, Gerhard Richter and Stephen Rosenthal. The then director of the Stedelijk, Edy de Wilde, called their work "a reflection on the foundations of painting." Fundamental Painting looks back on the impact of the 1975 show then and now, including an appendix of installation shots. The author, Claudia Rajlich, engages in a detailed description of the featured works and their execution, using this as a jumping-off point to survey 20th-century abstract and nonobjective painting in relation to the development of Minimalist painting.