John McLaughlin

John McLaughlin (1898 Sharon, Massachusetts - 1976 Los Angeles, California) is regarded as one of the most important American artists of the mid-twentieth century, although his work was widely acknowledged only towards the end of his career and received more attention especially during the past few years. McLaughlin is the most prominent of the “Hard Edge” painters of the late 1950s, who formed a counter movement to the emotionally charged Color Field painting of Abstract Expressionism. His images are characterized by strictly geometric compositions of few color sections. 

McLaughlin holds a singular position among this group of artists in that his artistic vision is grounded in Zen Buddhist philosophy. In his abstract paintings with their “neutral structure” (John McLaughlin) this influence becomes visible in the void, which viewers may fill with their individual experience of the present moment.