John McLaughlin (artist)

John Dwyer McLaughlin was an American abstract painter. Based primarily in California, he was a pioneer in minimalism and hard-edge painting. Considered one of the most significant Californian postwar artists, McLaughlin painted a focused body of geometric works that are completely devoid of any connection to everyday experience and objects, inspired by the Japanese notion of the void. He aimed to create paintings devoid of any object hood including but not limited to a gestures, representations and figuration. This led him to the rectangle. Leveraging a technique of layering rectangular bars on adjacent planes, McLaughlin creates works that provoke introspection and, consequently, a greater understanding of one's relationship to nature.

21 May 1898

Born on the same birth date (21 May 1898): Armand Hammer • Carl Johnson (athlete) • Charles-Léon Hammes

Born on the same birth day (21 May): Adrian Hardiman • Allan McKeown • Anne Walter Fearn • Bobby Cox • Briana Banks • Chen Dayu • Dave Specter • Giuseppe Mercalli • Jonny Howson • Larance Marable • Lynn Williams (soccer) • Max B • Philip II of Spain • Regina M. Anderson • Sandy Douglas • Suzanne Lilar

Born in the same month (May 1898): Ariel Durant • Arletty • Christfried Burmeister • Desanka Maksimović • Ernst Bacon • Golda Meir • Julius Evola • Konrad Henlein