It was primarily only after 1972, at the Kassel Documenta Fair, that Richard McLean became well known. He began exhibiting his work in San Francisco in 1957, after studying painting at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California.

At the end of the 1960s, realism became quite fashionable in the United States. As this was McLean's primary style, he participated in many exhibitions such as 22 Realists in 1970 at the Whitney Museum in New York; Radical Realism, in 1971 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago; Sharp Focus Realism in 1972 in New York; and many others both in the United States and overseas.

McLean's most successful theme involved horses and their accompanying figures, such as racehorses and their jockeys, military horses, and farm horses. In a majority of cases, the animal plays a major role at the expense of the figures or surrounding landscapes. McLean considers himself a still-life painter despite his subjects being animals and men.

Source:
www.artcult.com

Born: 1934, Hoquiam, Washington

Richard McLean's paintings re-awaken us to the dormant joy of observation. McLean concerns himself with apparently sentimental subjects to achieve a consummate brutalism. McLean derives his Kodachromes from the deadly black & white photos of national horse monthly magazines dedicated to breeding and showmanship, with illustrations of handsome horses, their owners, trainers, stables and equipage.

Horses are not the love of McLean's life: it's the photos he adores and --with their posed formalization of reality-- fanatically transmits. Sharp "Hollywoodian" colors create and heighten the estrangement and such curiously modernist devices as flattening the foreground and the background enhance the compositional images by exaggeratedly bringing them to the fore.

Despite the cool seriality of his work, McLean introduces a psychological element; the more accurate the rendering of the photo and the more exaggerated the realism, the more imaginative the paintings are. McLean and his fellow realists seem to have an almost styleless style. They seem to be able to take their paintings on without the burden of personal style. It is the selection of subjects and individual philosophy that creates a presence of more than mere technical mastery.

Education:
1962 Mills College, Oakland, CA; M.F.A.
1958 California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA; B.F.A.

Solo Exhibitions:
1957 Lucien Labaudt Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1963 Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA
1964 Berkeley Gallery, Berkeley, CA
1965 Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN
1966 Berkeley Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1967 University of Omaha, Omaha, NE
1968 Berkeley Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1971 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
1973 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
1975 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
1976 Galerie de Gestlo, Hamburg, West Germany
1976 John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1978 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
1981 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
1983 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
1986 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
1989 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY

Group Exhibitions:

1980 "Photo-Realist Painting in California: A Survey," Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
1980 "The Figurative Tradition and The Whitney Museum of American Art: Painting and Sculpture from the Permanent Collection," Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
1980 "The Morton G. Neumann Family Collection, National Gallery of Art," Washington, DC
1981 "Animals in American Art: 1880's - 1980's," Nassau County Museum of Fine Arts, Roslyn, NY
1981 "Changes: Art in America 1881-1981," Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI
1981 Proctor Art Center, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
1981 "Real, Really Real, Super Real: Directions in Contemporary Realism," San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX
1981 "The Image in American Painting and Sculpture: 1950-1980," Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH
1981-83 "Contemporary American Realism Since 1960," Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA; traveling exhibition
1982 "Northern California Art of the Sixties," De Saisset Museum, University of Santa Clara, Santa Clara, CA
1982 "Northern California Realist Painters," Redding Museum, Redding, CA
1982 Sawhill Gallery, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
1982 "Self-Portraits," Allan Frumkin Gallery, New York, NY
1982 "The West As Art," Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, CA
1983 "American Super Realism from the Morton G. Neumann Family Collection," Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, IL
1983 "American Superrealism From the Morton G. Neumann Collection," Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, IL
1983 "Contemporary American Realism," Foster Goldstrom Gallery, Dallas, TX
1983 "Contemporary Images: Watercolor 1983," University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Oshkosh, WI
1983 "Directions in Bay Area Painting: A Survey of Three Decades:
1940's - 1960's," Richard L. Nelson Gallery, University of California, Davis, CA
1983 "Drawings by Fifty California Artists," Modernism, San Francisco, CA
1983 Morgan Gallery, Kansas City, MO
1983 "On Paper," Jeremy Stone Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1983 "Realism Now," Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, Japan
1983 "Thanking the Muse," Morgan Gallery, Kansas City, MO
1983 "The American Photorealists," Fischer Fine Art, London, England
1983 "The Horse Show," Freidus Gallery, New York, NY
1983 "Watercolor in America," Joseloff Gallery, Hartford Art School, University of Hartford, Hartford, CT
1983-85 "Assignment: Aviation-The Stuart M. Speiser Photo-Realist Collection," Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition:
Anchorage Historical & Fine Arts Museum, AK, 1/1-1/31/83; Denver Museum of Natural History, CO, 7/23-9/4; Maryland Science Center, Baltimore, MD, 9/24-11/6; Columbus Museum of Arts & Sciences, GA, 11/26/83-1/8/84; Neville Public Museum, Greenbay, WI, 1/28-3/11; The Dane G. Hanson Memorial Museum, Logan, KS, 3/31-5/13; Longview Museum & Art Center, TX, 6/2-7/15; Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, CO 8/4-9/16; Springfield Art Museum, MO, 10/6-11/18; Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville, TN, 12/8/84-3/24/85; Historical & Creative Arts Center, Lufkin, TX, 4/13-5/26; Amarillo Art Center, TX, 6/15-7/28; Santa Fe Community College Art Gallery, Gainesville, FL, 10/19-12/1
1983-85 "West Coast Realism," Laguna Beach Museum of Art, Laguna Beach,
CA; traveling exhibition
1984 "America Seen: Contemporary American Artists View America," Adams Middleton Gallery, Dallas, TX
1984 "Animals! Animals! Animals!," Stamford Museum and Nature Center, Stamford, CT
1984 Galerie Jean-Pierre Lavignes, Paris, France
1984 "San Francisco Bay Area Painting," Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Lincoln, NE
1985 "American Realism," William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1985 "American Realism: The Precise Image," Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan; traveling exhibition in Japan
1985 "Animals: Contemporary Visions," Robert L. Kidd Galleries, Birmingham, MI
1985 "Focus on Realism: Selections from the Collection of Glenn C. Janss," Boise Gallery of Art, Boise, ID
1985 "Fortissimo! Thirty Years from the Richard Brown Baker Collection of Contemporary Art," Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI; traveling to: San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA; Portland Museum of Art, Portland, OR
1985 "Photorealist Watercolors: Robert Bechtle, Ralph Goings, Richard McLean," Acme Art, San Francisco, CA
1985 "Realism: Contemporary Americans," Hooks-Epstein Galleries, Houston, TX
1985-87 "American Realism: Twentieth-Century Drawings and Watercolors
from the Glenn C. Janss Collection, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art," San Francisco, CA; traveling exhibition
1986-87 "The Sturman Collection: Twentieth-Century Works On Paper, Tucson Museum of Art," Tucson, AZ
1987 "Fifty-First National Midyear Exhibition," Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
1987 "Mainstream America: The Collection of Phil Desind," Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
1987 "Realism: The New Generation," R.H. Love Modern, Chicago, IL
1987 "The Hot Centre: Contemporary Art Selected by Ivan Karp," Norton Center for the Arts, Centre College, Danville, KY
1988 "American Realism: Twentieth Century Drawings and Watercolors The Glenn C. Janss Collection," Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID
1988 "Selections from The Ellen and Jerome Westheimer Collection,"
Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, OK
1988 "Spanish Watercolors: Robert Bechtle and Richard McLean," Wiegand Gallery, Belmont, CA
1988 "Tortue is O.K.," Tortue Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1988 "Works On Paper," John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1990 "Amerikansk Fotoreslism," Art Now Gallery, Gothenburg, Sweden,
October 20 - November 25
1990 "California A-Z And Return," Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
1990 "Styles, Strands & Sequences: American Realist Paintings & Drawings, 1912-1990 From the Philip Desind Collection," University Gallery, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
1991 "Photorealism: The Early Years," Isidore Ducasse Fine Arts, New York, NY
1991 "In Sharp Focus: Super-Realism," Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn, NY, April 15 - July 7, catalog
1991-92 "Photo-Realism: Revisited," Museum of Art, Ft. Lauderdale, FL,
Nov. 22, 1991 - Jan. 19, 1992
1996 "Paper Work", Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York, NY, Feb. 3 - 24
1997 "Photorealism", Jaffe Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, FL, Jan. 9-31
1997 "Photorealists", Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA, October 2 - November

Selected Books:
Kultermann, Udo. New Realism, New York: New York Graphic Society, 1972, p.8,15,18,20.
Brachot, Isy, ed., Hyperrealisme. Brussels: Imprimeries F. Van Buggenhoudt, 1973.
Chase, Linda. Les Hyperrealistes Americains. Paris, France: Editions Filipacchi, 1973.
Sager, Peter. Neue Formen des Realismus. Verlag M. DuMont Schauberg, 1973, (illustration).
Who's Who in American Art. New York, Bowker, R.R., 1973.
Romana Libri Alfabeto. L`lperrealismo italo Medusa. Rome, 1974.
Abadie, Daniel. L`Hyperrealisme Americain, Petite Encyclopedie de l`Art, vol. 113, Paris: Gernand Hazan, 1975, (illustration).
Battcock, Gregory, ed., Super Realism, A Critical Anthology, New York: E.P. Dutton, 1975.
Chase, Linda. Hyperrealisme. New York: Rizzoli, 1975.
Kultermann, Udo. Neue Formen des Bildes. West Germany: Verlag Ernst Wasmuth, 1975.
Lucie-Smith, Edward. Late Modern - The Visual Arts Since 1945. 2nd Edition, New York: Praeger, 1975.
Rose, Barbara, ed., Readings in American Art: 1900-1975, New York: Praeger, 1975.
Honisch, Dieter and Jens Christian Jensen. Amerikanische Kunst von 1945 bis Heute. Cologne, West Germany: DuMont Buchverlag, 1976.
Kultermann, Udo. The New Painting. Westview Press, 1976.
Who's Who in American Art. New York, Bowker, R.R., 1976.
Wilmerding, John. American Art. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1976.
Battcock, Gregory. Why Art. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1977.
Cummings, Paul. Dictionary of Contemporary American Artists. (3rd Edition), New York: St. Martin's Press, 1977.
Lucie-Smith, Edward. Art Now: From Abstract Expressionism to Superrealism. New York: William Morrow & Co. Inc., 1977.
Lucie-Smith, Edward. Super Realism. Phaidon Press Ltd., 1979.
Lindey, Christine. Superrealist Painting and Sculpture. New York: William Morrow & Co. Inc., 1980.
Meisel, Louis K. Photorealism. New York: Harry Abrams Inc., 1980.
Broder, Patricia Janis. The American West: The Modern Vision. Boston: New York Graphic Society Book, Little, Brown & Co., 1984.

Selected Catalogues:
Shipley, James R.; Weller, Allen S. Introduction to Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture 1969. Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 1969.
Brewer, Donald. Introduction to Beyond the Actual - Contemporary California Realist Painting. Pioneer Museum and Haggin Galleries, Stockton, CA, 1970.
Brown, Denise Scott; Venturi, Robert. The Highway. Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 1970.
Monte, James. Introduction to Twenty-Two Realists. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, 1970.
Goldsmith, Benedict. New Realism. Brainerd Hall Art Gallery, State University College, Potsdam, NY, 1971.
Karp, Ivan C. Introduction to Radical Realism. Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, 1971.
Abadie, Daniel. Introduction to Hyperrealistes americains. Galerie des Quatre Mouvements, Paris, France, 1972.
Amaya, Mario. Realism Now. New York Cultural Center, New York, NY, 1972.
Amman, Jean Christophe. Introduction to Documenta 5. Neue Galerie and Museum Fridericianum, Kassel, West Germany, 1972.
Janis, Sidney. Introduction to Sharp-Focus Realism. Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, NY, 1972.
Schneede, Uwe; Hoffman, Heinz. Introduction to Amerikanischer Fotorealismus. Wurttembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, West Germany, 1972.
Alloway, Lawrence. Introduction to Photo-Realism. Serpentine Gallery, London, England, 1973.
Becker, Wolfgang. Introduction to Kunst nach Wirklichkeit. Kunstverein, Hannover, West Germany, 1973.
Dali, Salvador. Introduction to Grands maitres hyperrealistes americains. Galerie des Quatre Mouvements, Paris, France, 1973.
Dreiband, Laurence. Notes to Separate Realities. Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 1973.
Hogan, Carroll Edwards. Introduction to Hyperrealistes americains. Galerie Arditti, Paris, France, 1973.
Lamagna, Carlo. Foreword to The Super-Realist Vision, De Cordova and Dana Museum, Lincoln, MA, 1973.
Marshall, Kerry. Introduction to Decade. Civic Arts Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA, 1973.
Photo-Realism 1973: The Stuart M. Speiser Collection. Louis K. Meisel, New York, 1973.
Radde, Bruce. Introduction to East Coast/West Coast/New Realism. University Art Gallery, California State University, San Jose, CA, 1973.
Sims, Patterson. Introduction to Realism Now. Katonah Gallery, Katonah, NY, 1973.
Chase, Linda. "Photo-Realism" in Tokyo Biennale 1974. Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan, 1974.
Clair, Jean; Abadie, Daniel; Becker, Wolfgang; Restany, Pierre. Introduction to Hyperrealistes americains-realistes europeens. Centre National d'Art Contemporain, Paris, France, 1974.
Coward, Jack. New Photo Realism, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT, 1974.
Henning, Edward B. Introduction to Aspects of the Figure. Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 1974.
Wyrick Jr., Charles. Introduction to Contemporary American Paintings from the Lewis Collection. Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE, 1974.
Richardson, Brenda. Introduction to Super Realism. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD, 1975.
Chase, Linda. "U.S.A." in Aspects of Realism. Rothman's of Pall Mall Canada Ltd., 1976.
Doty, Robert. Contemporary Images in Watercolor. Akron Art Institute, Akron, OH, 1976.
Cummings, Paul. American Drawings 1927-1977. Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul, MN, 1977.
Karp, Ivan C. Introduction to New Realism: Modern Art Form. Boise Gallery of Art, Boise, ID, 1977.
Stringer, John. Introduction to Illusion and Reality. Australian Gallery Directors' Council, North Sydney, N.S.W., 1977.
Landis, Ellen. Introduction to Reflections of Realism. Museum of Albuquerque, Albuquerque, NM, 1979.
Stokes, Charlotte. As Artists See It: America in the 70's. Meadowbrook Art Gallery, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, 1979.
Carr, Carolyn Kinder. The Image in American Painting and Sculpture: 1950-1980. Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH, 1981.
Goodyear, Frank. Contemporary American Realism Since 1960. New York Graphic Society, Boston, MA, 1981.
Stigliano, Phyllis; Parente, Janice. Animals in American Art 1880's - 1980's. Nassau County Museum of Fine Arts, Roslyn, NY, 1981.
Lagoria, Georgianna M. Northern California Art of the Sixties. De Saisset Museum, University of Santa Clara, Santa Clara, CA, 1982.
Self-Portraits. Allan Frumkin Gallery, New York, NY, 1982.
Trenton, Patricia Jean. The West As Art. Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, CA, 1982.
Baird Jr., Joseph Armstrong. ed. Directions in Bay Area Painting: A Survey of Three Decades: 1940's - 1960's. Richard L. Nelson Gallery, University of California, Davis, CA, 1983.
Chase Linda. Introduction to American Super Realism from the Morton G. Neumann Family Collection. Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, IL, 1983.
Contemporary Images, Watercolor 1983. University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, WI, 1983.
Gamwell, Lynn. West Coast Realism. Laguna Beach Museum of Art, Laguna Beach, CA, 1983.
Realism Now. Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, Japan, 1983.
America Seen: Contemporary American Artists View America. Adams Middleton Gallery, Dallas, TX, 1984.
Neubert, George W. San Francisco Bay Area Painting. Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Lincoln, NE, 1984.
Rasmussen, Gerald. Introduction to Animals! Animals! Animals!. Stamford Museum and Nature Center, Stamford, CT, 1984.
Arthur, John. American Realism: The Precise Image. Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan, Published by The Asahi Shimbun, 1985.
Martin, Alvin. American Realism: Twentieth-Century Drawings and Watercolors from the Glenn C. Janss Collection. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art/Harry N. Abrams Publishers, New York, 1985.
Robinson, Franklin W. Fortissimo! Thirty Years from the Richard Brown Baker Collection of Contemporary Art. Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, 1985.
Karp, Ivan C. Introduction to The Sturman Collection: Twentieth-Century Works On Paper. Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ, 1986.
Zona, Louis. Introduction to Mainstream America: The Collection of Phil Desind. Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH, 1987.
Gumerson, Jean. Forward to Selections from The Ellen and Jerome Westheimer Collection. Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma City, OK, 1988.
Ward, John L. Styles. Strands & Sequences: Realist Paintings and Drawings from the Collection of Philip Desind. University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 1990.
Zona, Louis. Introduction to California A-Z And Return. Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH, 1990.
Swartz, Constance. Introduction to In Sharp Focus: Super-Realism. Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, NY, 1991.
Van Baron, Judith & Betz, Margaret. Photorealists, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA, 1997.

Selected Publications:
Breckenridge, Betty. "Reviews: San Francisco", Artforum, February 1963, p.45.
Magloff, Joanna. "Art News from San Francisco", ARTnews, April 1964, p.20.
Ventura, Anita. "Pop, Photo and Paint", Arts Magazine, April 1964, p.50-54.
Stiles, Knute. "Review", Artforum, December 1966. p.64.
Nilson, Karl Gustav. "Realism U.S.A.", Konstrevy, (Stockholm), November 2, 1969, No.2, p.68-71.
Davis, Douglas. "Return of the Real: Twenty-two Realists on View at New York's Whitney", Newsweek, February 23, 1970, p.105.
Ratcliff, Carter. "Twenty-two Realists Exhibit at the Whitney", Art International, April 1970, p.105.
Battcock, Gregory. "Reviews", Art & Artists, September 1971, p.63.
Domingo, Willis. "Reviews", Arts Magazine, May 1971, p.55.
Genauer, Emily. "Art `72: The Picture is Brighter", New York Post, December 31, 1971.
Marandel, Patrice J. "The Deductive Image: Notes on Some Figurative Painters", Art International, September 1971, p.58-61.
Sager, Peter. "Neue Formen des Realismus", Magazin Kunst, 1971, p.2512-16.
Borden, Lizzie. "Cosmologies", Artforum, October 1972, p.45-50.
Borsick, Helen."Art & Artists: Realism to the Fore", Cleveland Plain Dealer, October 8, 1972.
Chase, Linda; Foote, Nancy; McBurnett, Ted. "The Photo-Realists: 12 Interviews", Art in America, November/December 1972, p.73-89.
Hickey, David. "Sharp Focus Realism", Art in America, March/April 1972, p.116-118.
Hughes, Robert. "The Realist as Corn God", Time Magazine, January 31, 1972, p.50-55.
Karp, Ivan C. "Rent Is the Only Reality, or the Hotel Instead of the Hymm", Arts Magazine, December 1972, p.47-51.
Kramer, Hilton. "And Now, Pop Art: Phase 11", New York Times, January 16, 1972.
Kurtz, Bruce. "Documenta 5: A Critical Preview", Arts Magazine, Summer 1972, p.34-41.
"La nouvelle coqueluche: L'hyperrealisme", L'Express, October 30, 1972.
Lerman, Leo. "Sharp-Focus Realism", Mademoiselle, March 1972, p.170-173.
Nemser, Cindy. "New Realism", Arts Magazine, November 1972, p.85.
Rosenberg, Harold. "The Art World", The New Yorker, February 2, 1972, p.88-93.
Seitz, William C. "The Real and the Artificial: Painting of the New Environment", Art in America, November/December 1972, p.58-72.
Wolmer, Denise. "In the Galleries", Arts Magazine, March 1972, p.57.
Allen, Barbara. "In and Around", Interview Magazine, November 1973, p.36.
Bell, Jane. "Stuart M. Speiser Collection", Arts Magazine, December 1973, p.57.
Chase, Linda. "Recycling Reality", Art Gallery Magazine, October 1973, p.75-82.
Hart, John. "A `hyperrealist' U.S. tour at La Medusa", Daily American, (Rome), February 8, 1973.
Kelley, Mary Lou. "Sharp-focus realism", Christian Science Monitor, October 25, 1973.
Levin, Kim. "The New Realism: A Synthetic Slice of Life", Opus International, June 1973, p.28-37.
Melville, Robert. "The Photograph as Subject", Architectural Review, May 1973, p.329-333.
Michael, Jacques. "Le super-realisme", Le Monde, February 6, 1973, p.23.
O'Neill, Mollie. "Ten Years at Walnut Creek", Artweek, October 20, 1973.
Perreault, John. "Airplane Art in a Head Wind", Village Voice, October 4, 1973.
Shere, Charles. "Bay Area Artists in Quandary", Oakland Tribune, October 14, 1973.
Chase, Linda. "The Connotation of Denotation", Arts Magazine, February 1974, p.38-41.
Coleman, A.D. "From Today Painting Is Dead", Camera 35, July 1974, p.34, 36-37,78.
Davis, Douglas. "Summing Up the Season", Newsweek, July 1, 1974, p.73.
Hughes, Robert. "An Omnivorous and Literal Dependence", Arts Magazine, June 1974, p.25-29.
Kelley, Mary Lou. "Pop Art Inspired Objective Realism", Christian Science Monitor, March 1, 1974.
Loring, John. "Photographic Illusionist Prints", Arts Magazine, February 1974, p.42-43.
Spector, Stephen. "The Super Realists", Architectural Digest, November/December 1974, p.85.
Tooker, Dan. "Interview: Richard McLean", Art International, September 1974, p.27, 40-41.
Albright, Thomas. "A Wide View of the New Realists", San Francisco Chronicle, February 6, 1975, p.38.
Lucie-Smith, Edward. "The Neutral Style", Art and Artists, August 1975, p.6-15.
Richard, Paul. "Whatever You Call It, Super Realism Comes On With A Flash", Washington Post, November 25, 1975, p.B1.
Albright, Thomas. "Wanted: A Figurative Study", San Francisco Chronicle, October 5, 1976.
Chase, Linda. "Photo-Realism: Post Modernist Illusionism", Art International, March/April 1976, p.14-27.
Fox, Mary. "Aspects of Realism", Vancouver Sun, September 21, 1976.
Fried, Alexander. "Three Artists Trying To Be Different", San Francisco Examiner, October 1, 1976, p.32.
Glasser, Penelope. "Aspects of Realism at Stratford", Art Magazine (Toronto), Summer 1976, p.22-29.
Linn, Phyllis. "Picture-Perfect Photo Realist Richard McLean", Classic: Magazine about Horses & Sports, April/May 1976, p.50-55.
Marlowe, John. "Richard McLean - An Interview", Current Magazine, September/October 1976, p.39.
McDonald, Robert. "Richard McLean and Robert Cottingham", Artweek, October 16, 1976, p.3,4.
Borlase, Nancy. "In Selecting a Common Domestic Object", Sydney Morning Herald, July 30, 1977.
Crossley, Mimi. "Review: Photo-Realism", Houston Post, December 9, 1977.
Makin, Jeffrey. "Realism from the Squad", Melbourne Sun, October 19, 1977, p.43.
McCracker, Peg. "The Illusion and Reality Show", Arts Melbourne and Art Almanac, December 1977.
Mackie, Alwynne. "New Realism and the Photographic Look", American Art Review, November 1978, p.72-79,132-134.
Kuspit, Donald B. "What's Real In Realism?", Art in America, September 1981, p.81,89,92.
Northwood, Bill. "They Paint What They See, Not What They Dream", The Museum of California Magazine: Oakland Museum, May/June 1982, p.13-16.
"Handsome Watercolors at U of H's Joseloff Gallery", Hartford Courant, November 13, 1983.
Debailleux, H.F. "Les hyper-duettistes", Liberation, (Paris), 20 June 1984.
"Richard McLean et Ralf Goings", Beaux Arts (Paris), June 1984.
"Toujours un peu plus vrai", Connaissance des Arts (Paris), June 1984.
Green, Roger. "Paintings of photographs: reality of realism", Times-Picayune, (New Orleans, LA), June 22, 1990, p.13.
Schwartz, Constance. "In Sharp Focus: Super-Realism," Sunstorm, April 1991, illus. p. 28.
"The Photorealists," Savannah College of Art and Design-The Magazine, Fall/Winter 1997, pp. 33-34.

Selected Collections:
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
Oakland Art Museum, Oakland, CA
Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
Milwaukee Art Center, Milwaukee, WI
Museum Boymans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Utrecht Museum of Contemporary Art, Utrecht, Netherlands
Kunstmuseum Hanover, Hanover, West Germany
R-L Canadian Fuel Inc., Toronto, Canada
Pacific Bell, Los Angeles, CA
Southland Corporation, Dallas, TX
Pacific Telesis, San Francisco, CA
Virlane Foundation, New Orleans, LA
E. Jean Belloni, Geneva, Switzerland
Dr. Peter Ludwig, Aachen, West Germany
Richard Brown Baker, New York, NY
Glenn Janss, Sun Valley, ID
Daniel Filipacchi, Paris, France
Sydney and Frances Lewis, Richmond, VA
Martin Margulies, Coconut Grove, FL
George Sturman, Las Vegas, NV
Richard and Gloria Manney, New York, NY

Following is The New York Times obituary of Richard McLean, 15 Jan. 2016

Richard McLean, renowned photorealist painter and educator, passed away peacefully in his sleep on January 3rd, 2014, surrounded by his loving family. He was 79 years old.

Born April 12, 1934 in Hoquiam, WA, Richard received his early education in the rural community of New Meadows in north central Idaho from which he graduated in 1953. He received no formal instruction in art until he entered Boise State in the fall of that year, relying throughout his boyhood on what he managed to absorb through observation of newspaper comic strips, comic books and illustrations from the popular magazines of the day. He also exhibited, from an early age, an overall, general fascination with the visible world.

In 1955 he married Darlene Young, and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to continue his studies at the California College of Arts and Crafts where he earned his BFA. In 1962 he was awarded an MFA from Mills College in Oakland. He was also Professor Emeritus at San Francisco State University where he taught for thirty years.

He is represented in New York City by OK Harris Works of Art, a gallery with whom he has been associated since 1970. McLean's work is included in numerous private and public collections in the U.S. and abroad including The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Guggenheim Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Yale University Art Gallery, The Ludwig Museum of Modern Art in Vienna, Boijmans Museum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands and the Kunstmuseum in Hanover, Germany. He continues to exhibit widely, having recently concluded exhibitions in Denmark, Austria, Italy, France, and Japan.

Among his friends and family, he was known as warm and generous, of keen wit, with an ironic sense of humor. An avid lover of jazz music, he could often be found playing trumpet along with the radio in his art studio. He infused the same integrity into his daily life and family as he did into his work. Widely loved, Richard will be greatly missed by his many friends.

Mr. McLean most recently resided in Castro Valley and is survived by his loving wife of 58 years, Darlene, son Ian, daughter Caitlin, and his three grandchildren, Justin, Darian, and Jesse.

Submitted by:
Deborah Tear Haynes
Data Documentation Manager and Cataloguer
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College
Hanover, New Hampshire 03755
603-646-2783

Richard McLean is represented in the collection of The Hood Museum with Green Oils Sloe Gin, color lithograph, about 1980, Gift of Sr. Samuel Mandel.