The artistic tendency known as Minimalism, and in particular the installations and objects by "classic" Minimalist artists of the 1960s, such as Carl André, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd and Sol LeWitt, had such a profound impact in their time that they are frequently seen as a home-grown and purely North American phenomenon. In fact, and without denying that Minimalism was an artistic trend that arose in America, it could be said that it was not so much a thematic "school" characterised by specific "content" (in itself "minimalised"), but rather a "method" or "function" that worked on the basis of abstraction, constructivism and reduction. From this perspective, the more or less remote origins of Minimalist practices need to be looked for in the rich sources of early 20th-century European abstract and constructivist artistic tendencies.
Taking this idea as its starting point, the exhibition Before and After Minimalism offers a lengthy route around more than a century of art, spanning two continents - Europe and America.

Organised in collaboration with the DaimlerChrysler Corporate Art Collection, the exhibition comprises 64 works, all from that collection, by 41 artists. Most are paintings, but the exhibition also includes graphic work, multiples, sculptures, installations and multi-media works by German, Austrian, English, Irish, Swiss, Belgian, French and North American artists. These range from the early works (1909) of Adolf Hölzel (1853-1934), a guiding figure at the Stuttgart Academy, to the creations of artists such as Vincent Szarek, born as recently as 1972.

Artists

Absalon (1964-1993)
Max Ackermann (1887-1975)
Josef Albers (1888-1976)
John M Armleder (1948)
Jean Arp (1886-1966)
Jo Baer (1929)
Willi Baumeister (1889-1955)
Karl Benjamin (1925)
Max Bill (1908-1994)
Ilya Bolotowsky (1907-1981)
Adolf Richard Fleischmann (1892-1968)
Liam Gillick (1964)
Hermann Glöckner (1889-1987)
Camille Graeser (1892-1980)
Marcia Hafif (1929)
Frederick Hammersley (1919)
Michael Heizer (1944)
Adolf Hölzel (1853-1934)
Johannes Itten (1888-1967)
Ida Kerkovius (1879-1970)
Norbert Kricke (1922-1984)
Sol LeWitt (1924-2007)
Verena Loewensberg (1912-1986)
Richard Paul Lohse (1902-1988)
Otto Meyer-Amden (1885-1933)
Jeremy Moon (1934-1973)
Olivier Mosset (1944)
Kenneth Noland (1924)
Julian Opie (1958)
Philippe Parreno (1964)
Gerwald Rockenschaub (1952)
Oskar Schlemmer (1888-1943)
Sean Scully (1945)
Oli Sihvonen (1921)
Anton Stankowski (1930)
Vincent Szarek (1972)
Georges Vantongerloo (1886-1965)
Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart (1899-1962)
Ben Willikens (1939)
Heimo Zobernig (1958)