Object Image

The work of John McLaughlin was a catalyst for the development of hard-edge abstraction on the West Coast after World War II. McLaughlin had spent several years in Japan during the 1930s, studying Japanese painting and philosophy based on Zen, and mastering the language, which later allowed him to serve in the war as a military translator. His immersion in Japanese art and culture informed his art, which was designed to induce contemplation and was composed of a spare vocabulary of rectangles in a limited range of colors.

McLaughlin’s #2-1975 is a late work, composed of a series of stacked horizontals, with carefully calibrated proportions meant to establish a state of calm in the viewer. He a...

1975
Oil on canvas
60.0 x 48.0in
1975.019
Images and text © Laguna Art Museum, 2017

Where you'll find this

Laguna Art Museum
Permanent collection