On April 28, 1966, The New York Times published a review by conservative critic Hilton Kramer of the Jewish Museum's exhibition “Primary Structures,” organized by curator Kynaston McShine. Kramer, disdainful of contemporary art, described the 42 American and British artists as rejecting personal expression and subjective inflection, yet he acknowledged the show as the first comprehensive glimpse of a style that would define the 1960s. The exhibition featured then-little-known artists including Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt, Walter De Maria, Robert Morris, Anne Truitt, John McCracken, Larry Bell, Robert Smithson, Judy Chicago, Philip King, Michael Bolus, and David Annesley, and is now recognized as the ur-survey of Minimalism—a term McShine deliberately avoided.
As “Primary Structures” turns 60, its significance endures. Minimalism, which the exhibition helped launch, profoundly influenced not only visual art but also architecture, fashion, and design, becoming synonymous with reductive aesthetics that continue to shape culture. The show also marked a pivotal moment in art history, challenging the then-dominant narrative that innovative art was tied to specific places like Paris or New York and driven by a succession of avant-garde styles. Recent exhibitions at the Whitechapel Gallery, Tate, and the Met have since expanded this view, but “Primary Structures” remains a landmark in the evolution of modernism and the global art world.