Abstract: This paper examines color as a critical component in establishing form and space in late Modernist painting and sculpture. Previous art historical scholarship has failed to address color’s role in the object within a Minimalist approach. Through the works of Ellsworth Kelly, Anne Truitt, and Donald Judd this project attempts to fill that gap by exploring color as material, color in (and as) real space, and color and perception. This paper argues that although the perceptual qualities of color are problematic to a literalist approach, color continues to enhance both late Modernist and contemporary art within a Minimalist vein.