Christopher Knight profiles painter John McLaughlin, "L.A.'s first artist of authentically international stature."

Knight notes: "What McLaughlin did with these stripped-down tools remains one of the great achievements in 20th century American art. Ignoring accepted rules, his sophisticated paintings pry open perceptual space. Almost surreptitiously, they grab hold of your optical apparatus and undermine conventional habits of seeing."

John McLaughlin's work is on view in the exhibition Pacific Standard Time: Crosscurrents in L.A. Painting and Sculpture, 1950–1970 on view at the Getty Museum through February 5, 2012.