Francois Morellet — Minimalism and Conceptual art
2 min readFeb 23, 2019
François Morellet (30 April 1926–10 May 2016) was a French contemporary painter, sculptor, and light artist. His early work prefigured minimal art and conceptual art, and he played a prominent role in the development of geometrical abstract art.
For Morellet, a work of art referred only to itself. His titles are generally sophisticated, show some word play, and describe the “constraints” or “rules” that he used to create them. Like other contemporary artists who use constraints and chance (or the aleatory) in their works (John Cage in music, the Oulipo group in literature), Morellet used rules and constraints established in advance to guide the creation of his works, and also allowed chance to play a role in some of his compositions.
