Richard McLean
American • 1934-2014
Biography
Washington-born artist Richard McLean was a leading figure in the Photorealist movement, a practice that aims to meticulously reproduce photography in painting. Within this genre, he is best known for his detailed paintings of horses and their riders at racetracks or country fairs in rural California.
McLean worked alongside artists like Chuck Close and Richard Estes but stayed true to his focal point: the Western aesthetic. While, originally, horses served as the primary subject matter of his scenes, over time the horses became incidental details, allowing the natural world to dominate the space. McLean has translated Kodachromes into painting, simultaneously pushing realism to its edges and questioning the thin line between mass media and fine art.
Insights
McLean worked under the founding member of the Bay Area Figurative Movement, Richard Diebenkorn, at the California College of Arts and Crafts.
He was included in the 1970 "Twenty-Two Realists" exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.
His work is included in collections at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Smithsonian Institution and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among others.
"You're looking at a picture of a picture—the picture is the subject, not the scene depicted."
Past Lots
61No Reserve
Richard McLean
R.B.; and R.A.B. Nantucket 1986
Estimate $800 - 1,200
Sold for $254
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.
65
Richard McLean
Untitled (Horse in Stall)
Estimate $2,000 - 4,000
Sold for $4,445
Create your first list.
Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.