JOHN MCLAUGHLIN (1898-1976)

ANALYSIS OF THE ARTIST'S WORK

McLaughlin did not start painting until late in his life. Other than a very small number of early still-lifes and landscapes, his work is characterized as abstract and part of the West Coast hard Edge style. He used ready made stretchers and most of his paintings were oil on canvas, composition boards, masonite, or fiberboard. He focused on composition, scale, and color relationship. His formal process of painting was to first make a drawing of the composition at scale where he could first play around with the forms and composition, showing the importance of the formal arrangement. McLaughlin’s color palette consisted of black, white and gray, as well as and primary and earth colors to create geometric forms on the canvas.

McLaughlin’s first exhibition was in 1952 at the Felix Landau Gallery in Los Angeles. His earliest works reflect modern abstract art of Europe from the early twentieth century. McLaughlin was greatly influenced by Modern artists Kasimir Malevich and Piet Mondrian who both wanted to achieve larger ideas though simpler forms on a canvas. Malevich (1878-1935) was a Russian Suprematist/Constructivist who created non objective, abstract work. Malevich’s aim was to free artwork from the representational world since he saw objects in the objective world as meaningless and he rather believed feeling to be of paramount importance in the expression of art. Mondrian (1872-1944) was a Dutch painter whose works became known under Neo-Plasticism and non-objective art. His thoughts connected religion, art, and philosophy and they expressed the idea that meaning in an artwork can only be translated by lines, angles, primary colors, and black and white. McLaughlin’s philosophies differ from those of Malevich and Mondrian because his art is not an expression of true reality, but rather he employs similar Constructivist formal techniques to create a dynamic space and bring the viewer into the picture to participate in an actual event taking place in time (Catalogue. John McLaughlin. Felix Landau Gallery Jan 29- Feb 17, 1962).

McLaughlin created bilateral paintings with symmetry on the left and right sides of the canvas using vertical and horizontal rectangles. By creating a work that is completely abstract, McLaughlin strove to interact with the viewer and show the relationship of man to nature, without telling them what to think. McLaughlin’s use of neutral forms is designed to free the viewer from the restraints and demands that are imposed by an image. McLaughlin states, “My purpose is to achieve the totally abstract. I want to communicate only to the extent that the painting will serve to induce or intensify the viewer’s natural desire for contemplation without the benefit of a guiding principle” (Catalogue. John McLaughlin. Felix Landau Gallery Jan 29- Feb 17, 1962).

His paintings express a void and simplicity and are composed of geometric forms, most often rectangles. His work in the 1950s and into the 1960s shows an even greater reduction. Increasing simplicity characterize his later works. McLaughlin wants the viewer to think about their own relationship with nature and he does not present just one truth or way of thinking. The art of Japanese Literati painting of the 14th and 15th centuries greatly influenced the development of his philosophies and the artistic ends to which he hoped to meet. The ideas of Sesshu 1420-1506, a Japanese ink painter who showed nature in an abstract way, are reflected in McLaughlin’s works. In an introduction to a show for the Pasadena Art Museum, McLaughlin talks about the empty space in Japanese art and describes the space he creates in the words of Sesshu as the “Marvelous Void.” McLaughlin constructs his works to free the viewer and allow them to find their own identity. Contemplation and self awareness were important feelings that McLaughlin hoped people could aspire to and achieve through his artwork. McLaughlin was radical in his ideas by using formal abstract elements as a way to contemplate nature and ones own place in time and space, and posing ideas for other American artists to expand upon and explore.

AWARDS & AFFILIATIONS

Visual Arts Awards for individual artists by the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities, 1946
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC bronze medal, “Thirteenth Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting”
National Council for the Arts and the Humanities, $5,000 award in painting and sculpture
Tamarind Fellowship Artist, $1,000 grant, 1963

COLLECTIONS

Addison Gallery, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA
Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Ameringer and Yohe Fine Art, NY
Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, ME
The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Daimler Chrysler, Berlin
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY
Gary Snyder Fine Art
Inverleith House, Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh, Scotland
Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NB
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Mead Art Gallery, Amherst College, Amherst, MA
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Miami Art Museum, Miami, FL
Museum and Art Gallery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Museum of Modern Art, NY
National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.
Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland CA
Pasadena Museum of Modern Art, Pasadena, CA
San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery
Tobey C. Moss Gallery
University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley, CA
University Art Museum, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, NY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. John McLaughlin. Felix Landau Gallery Jan 29- Feb 17, 1962
2. John McLaughlin A Retrospective Exhibition, Pasadena Art Museum Nov 12- Dec 12, 1963
3. Eight New Paintings by John McLaughlin, Felix Landau Gallery Los Angeles Feb 28-March 19, 1966
4. John McLaughlin Retrospective Exhibition, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. Nov 16, 1968 – Jan 5, 1969
5. John McLaughlin Paintings from the Early Fifties May 11 – June 6, 1970 Felix Landau Gallery , Los Angeles, CA
6. John McLaughlin Recent Paintings – 1970/1971 University of California, Irvine
7. John McLaughlin Retrospective Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla, CA July 7 – Aug 12, 1973
8. John McLaughlin Recent Paintings, Andre Emmerih Gallery March 30 – April 17, 1974
9. John McLaughlin Paintings 1949-1975, Andre Emmerich Gallery Sept 11- Oct 3, 1979
10. John McLaughlin Paintings 1950-1975, April 14- May 23 1981, Annely Juda Fine Art, London
11. Abstract Painting as Surface and Object, Hillwood Art Gallery, School of the Arts, Long Island University, Feb 13 – March 8, 1985
12. Alice Trumbull Mason and John McLaughlin, Two Decades: 1950 & 1960, Washburn June 18- July 31, 1986
13. John Mclaughlin: Paintings of the Fifties introduction by Prudence Carlson, Andre Emmerich Gallery Feb 5-28, 1987
14. John McLaughlin Paintings of the Seventies, Andre Emmerich Gallery Nov 10- Dec 3, 1988
15. Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1979 Vol. III
16. Larsen, Susan. John McLaughlin, Western Modernism, Eastern Though: Essays Distributed Art Publishers, 1996
17. Selz, Peter, Abstract Classicism Reexamined
18. Joslyn Art Museum. Paintings and Sculpture from the European and American Collections. University of Nebraska Press, Omaha, Nebraska
19. Four Abstract Classicists, San Francisco Museum of Art; Los Angeles County Museum