hard-edge painting
Sharp-bordered abstract art
Hard-edge painting is an abstract style characterized by sharp, clean boundaries between areas of flat color—no visible brushstrokes, no blending, no gradation.
The term emerged in the late 1950s to distinguish this precise geometric approach from the expressive brushwork of Abstract Expressionism.
The hard-edge painters favored bold, unmodulated color fields.
Repositionable adhesive strip
- flat colorUniform hue, no shading
- acrylic paintPlastic-based artist's medium
- clean linesUnadorned, distinct boundaries
- precisionAccuracy of measurement
crisp edges · smooth surface · enamel · knife-edge · delineation · exactitude · clarity · glossy finish
Aesthetic of reduction
Absence of slope
- planarityState of being flat
- nonobjectiveLacking depicted subject matter
- formalismPrivileging structure over substance
- figure-groundPerceptual separation of object and background
Forms with defined boundaries
- chevronsV-shaped rank markings
- stripesParallel linear markings
- bandsMusical performing groups
- polygonsClosed plane figures
squares · triangles · rectangles · symmetry · asymmetry · interlocking shapes · parallel lines · zigzags
masking tape
Repositionable adhesive strip
- flat colorUniform hue, no shading
- acrylic paintPlastic-based artist's medium
- clean linesUnadorned, distinct boundaries
crisp edges · precision · smooth surface · enamel · knife-edge · delineation · exactitude · clarity · glossy finish · uniformity
minimalism
Aesthetic of reduction
flatness
Absence of slope
- planarityState of being flat
- nonobjectiveLacking depicted subject matter
- formalismPrivileging structure over substance
color contrast
Difference between adjacent hues
geometric shapes
Forms with defined boundaries
polygons · squares · triangles · rectangles · symmetry · asymmetry · interlocking shapes · parallel lines · zigzags · diamonds
- Modern Artcubism, Cubism, Fauvism, dadaism, Dadaism
- abstract artabstract art, abstract expressionism, abstraction, expressionism, abstract composition
- art movementsPop Art, pop art, Impressionism, impressionism, Surrealism
- Geometric Abstractiongeometric art, geometric shapes, geometric pattern, constructivism, suprematism
- avant-gardeDada, Dadaism, Futurism, Constructivism, Cabaret Voltaire
- De StijlPiet Mondrian, Mondrian, primary colors, black lines, Utrecht
hard-edge paintingaction painting
Spontaneous, physical mark-making
Abstract Expressionism · drip painting · lyrical abstraction · expressionism · impasto
painting, harden, hardened, hardening, hardiness, paintings, hardener