hard-edge

American  

[hahrd-ej] / ˈhɑrdˌɛdʒ /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of a style of abstract painting associated with the 1960s and marked chiefly by sharply outlined geometric or nongeometric forms.

---

hard-edge British  

adjective

1. of, relating to, or denoting a style of painting in which vividly coloured subjects are clearly delineated

---

Etymology

Origin of hard-edge

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hard-edge

Since the 1950s, key figures launched important genres, including hard-edge abstract painter John McLaughlin, harbinger of Light and Space perceptual art, and assemblage master Wallace Berman.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 1, 2025

Herzog said they wanted to pay their respects to Breuer’s hard-edge design while also finding subtle ways to make the space more useful for Sotheby’s—like that huge freight elevator—and inviting to the public.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025

About half of the 21 paintings on exhibit were made since 2010 and feature the cunning interplay of soft colors and hard-edge forms.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 7, 2023

On songs like the Creedence Clearwater Revival-tinged “Rich Daddy,” the band made the move from hard-edge barkers to uniquely grooving blues-punk dynamo.

From New York Times ● Mar. 7, 2023

David Sylvester, the influential critic at Britain’s New Statesman, declared in his enthusiastic review of her first solo gallery exhibition in 1962, “Bridget Riley is a hard-edge abstractionist.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2023