How to live with Minimalism

Hank S. McNeil, Jr. believed that art was not meant to be kept at a distance. It was meant to be lived with. In his residence, works by some of the most influential artists and designers of the post-war period became part of the everyday rhythms of domestic life. For his children, Calder and Cole, growing up with Minimalism meant encountering these objects not as austere institutional monuments but as companions in space — works that quietly shaped the rooms they inhabited and the experiences that unfolded within them.

In celebration of Defined Space: The Collection of Henry S. McNeil, Jr. coming to Christie’s 20th and 21st Century sales this May and Christie’s Design sale in June 2026, both in New York, with future sales to be announced, we return to the ideas of the artists and designers who helped shape this remarkable visual language. Through their own words, a broader vision of Minimalism comes into focus, revealing a philosophy shaped by form, material, space, experience…