Bowdoin College Museum of Art

Preview image of work. casein and graphite on masonite, Abstraction 5086

1962.83

Recommend keywords

Help us make our collections more accessible by providing keywords to describe this artwork. The BCMA uses the Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus to provide consistent keywords. Enter a keyword in the field below and you will be prompted with a list of possible matching AAT preferred terms.

Abstraction

Export record as: Plain text | JSON | CDWA-Lite | VRA Core 4

Artist

John D. McLaughlin (Sharon, Massachusetts , 1898 - 1976, Dana Point, California)

Title

Abstraction

Creation Date

1950

Century

20th century

Dimensions

23 in. x 28 in. (58.42 cm x 71.12 cm)

Object Type

mixed media

Creation Place

North America, United States

Medium and Support

casein and graphite on masonite

Credit Line

Gift of Eliot O'Hara

Copyright

This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s Copyright Terms and Conditions.

Accession Number

1962.83

John McLaughlin explored the potential of geometric abstraction introduced by the early twentieth-century European avant-garde, especially Kazimir Malevich and Piet Mondrian. A Bostonian, he moved to California in 1946 as a full-time artist and quickly established himself within a group of “hard-edge” painters. Rejecting the dynamic gestures of Abstract Expressionism in favor of a controlled, even paint application, McLaughlin and his cohort aimed at reducing the artist’s presence in the work of art. “My purpose is to achieve the totally abstract,” McLaughlin indicated. “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.”

Keywords: black and white flatness geometric hard-edge Japan influence minimal Mondrian influence