20|21 Art: The LA Edition 
10 April 2025
20|21 Art: The LA Edition 
129

John McCracken 1934–2011

Untitled

1965-1971
ink on paper sight: 16½ h × 20¾ w in (42 × 53 cm)
estimate: $1,500–2,000
result: $3,302
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Signed and dated to lower right ‘JM 65-71’.
provenance: The Artist | Collection of Collins & Milazzo | Private Collection, Paris | Private Collection
exhibited: All Quiet on the Western Front?, 26 September - 31 December 1990, Galerie Antoine Candau, Paris

This work will ship from Los Angeles, California.

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I like things that exist and don't—or seem to exist and seem not to, or seem to be of this world but also  maybe of some other world, too, at the same time. Then, to me, a work has breadth. If you make something that's overbearingly physical, it can seem to be only here and nowhere else. Or if something is real flighty and otherworldly, it can seem to be only there and not here. So I like to try to make things that are in both spheres.

John McCracken

California artist John McCracken is associated with the West Coast school of Minimalism and is particularly known for his sculptures that propel viewers to explore spatial awareness. These two works on paper are an excellent example of his minimalist style, serving as studies for his large scale three-dimensional works. McCracken created highly glossed, rectangular sculptures which are some of his most recognizable pieces. The angular surfaces of these forms were reflective of the space in which they situated, once again engaging the viewer with their surroundings.

Born in Berkeley, California, McCracken attended the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, and later taught at the School of Fine Arts at the University of California, where students of Minimalist and Conceptual art flocked.

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