John McLaughlin is known primarily for his hard-edged, geometric style of painting. McLaughlin was born in Sharon, Massachusetts in 1898. He was a part-time painter even while he worked as a dealer in Japanese prints and also as a translator during World War II in Japan, China, and Burma.

He and his wife lived in Dana Point, California where McLaughlin, a self-taught artist, started his painting career at the age of forty-eight. His experience in the Far East and his growing knowledge of European abstract art led him to a non-objective, quiet form of art. He concentrated on color and form to create a neutral image devoid of subject. His paintings are understated and self sufficient in that they do not have a relationship to one anot...