Untitled 1970

John McLaughlin, active in California after World War II, made this untitled painting using oil on canvas. McLaughlin stripped away conventional subjects to reveal the basic elements of painting. The painting exemplifies what the critic Clement Greenberg called "post-painterly abstraction". It reacts to the emotionalism of abstract expressionism, then dominant in the New York art world. Instead, it embraces rationality and simplicity. This approach connected with the generalized mood of 1950s America. It was a time of economic expansion and a desire for order after the chaos of global war. You can see that desire for order reflected in the hard edges and solid blocks of color. Works like this helped define the "California Look" of the 1950s and 60s. Artists, critics, and collectors on the West Coast established their own alternative to the New York art establishment. To understand this painting better, look into the history of art institutions in Los Angeles. Explore the complex relationship between the California and New York art scenes.