Minimalism is an art style that often seems more suited to Asia than to Europe and the Americas, but since the early 20th century, it has become far more prominent around the world. It's shown up in modern architecture, in abstract art, and in the works of American painters like John McLaughlin.

McLaughlin was born in Sharon, Massachusetts in 1898. From a young age, his parents sparked his interest in art, which McLaughlin explored through a fascination with Asian art and culture. After serving in the Navy in World War I, McLaughlin married Florence Emerson (a descendant of the poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson) and eventually moved to Japan in 1935. There, he studied Japanese art and language, which inspired him to open a Japanese-themed gallery in Boston and to serve as a translator for the US Army during World War II. After his first exhibition as an artist at the Felix Landau Gallery in Los Angeles in 1952, McLaughlin became known for his minimalist paintings and his Eastern influences. He continued to paint and receive acclaim until his death in 1976.

Before 1952, the earliest artworks by John McLaughlin were very simple landscapes and still life paintings. But it was in the Fifties that he became known for his distinctive style. A typical McLaughlin painting consists of a neutral canvas broken up into squares and rectangles, with each section painted a different bold color. The more simplified that his art became, the more striking it was to his audience.

If there is a central idea in McLaughlin's work, it is the concept of a "beautiful void." As the artist himself put it: "My purpose is to achieve the abstract." His deliberately neutral grids use space and color to evoke, leaving more to the imagination of the audience than an elaborate scene painted on canvas ever would. Works like #17, 1966 show a pair of blue parallel boxes on a white grid. As much as the deep blue draws the viewer's eye, it's the white space in between that keeps their attention. It is this attention to space that made McLaughlin famous and has gone on to inspire other American artists, including Robert Irwin and Larry Bell.

To see more paintings by John McLaughlin, you can visit the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Image by Sam Beebe on Flickr