Keith Vaughan

John Keith Vaughan (23 August 1912 – 4 November 1977), was a British painter.^[1] His work is held in the collections of the Government Art Collection,^[2] National Galleries Scotland,^[3] National Portrait Gallery,^[4] Tate^[1] and Victoria and Albert Museum in the UK.^[5]

Early life

Born at Selsey in West Sussex, Vaughan attended Christ's Hospital school.

He worked in an advertising agency until World War II, when as an intending conscientious objector he joined the St. John Ambulance; in 1941 he was conscripted into the Non-Combatant Corps.

Art career

A Barrack-room (1942) by Keith Vaughan

Vaughan was self-taught as an artist. His first exhibitions took place during the war. In 1942 he was stationed at Ashton Gifford near Codford in Wiltshire, and paintings from this time include The Wall at Ashton Gifford (Manchester Art Gallery).

During the war Vaughan formed friendships with the painters Graham Sutherland and John Minton, with whom after demobilisation in 1946 he shared premises. Through these contacts he formed part of the neo-romantic circle of the immediate post-war period. However, Vaughan rapidly developed an idiosyncratic style which moved him away from the Neo-Romantics. Concentrating on studies of male figures, his works became increasingly abstract.

Vaughan is also known for his journals, selections from which were published in 1966 and more extensively in 1989, after his death. A gay man troubled by his sexuality, he is known largely through those journals.^[6]

Educator

Vaughan worked as an art teacher at the Camberwell College of Arts, the Central School of Art and later at the Slade School.

Later life and death

He was diagnosed with cancer in 1975 and died by suicide in 1977 in London, recording his last moments in his diary as the drugs overdose took effect.^[7]

Art market

His auction record of £313,250 was set at Sotheby's, London, on 11 November 2009, for the oil on canvas Theseus and the Minotaur, previously in the collection of Richard Attenborough^[8] (who bought it in 1967).

Publications

Keith Vaughan. Journals & Drawings, 1966, published in London by Alan Ross, 219 pages.
Keith Vaughan: Journals 1939–1977, ed Alan Ross, 1989, published in London by John Murray, 217 pages, ISBN 0-7195-4732-6.
Keith Vaughan, His Life and Work, Malcolm Yorke, 1990, published in London by Constable, 288 pages, ISBN 0-09-469780-9 (Hardback)

Exhibitions

1944: Keith Vaughan: Gouaches and Drawings, Alex Reid and Lefevre Gallery, London

1946: Keith Vaughan: Paintings and Gouaches, Alex Reid and Lefevre Gallery, London

1948: Keith Vaughan: Paintings and Gouaches, George Dix Gallery, New York; Keith Vaughan: Paintings, Gouaches and Monotypes, Alex Reid and Lefevre Gallery, London

1950: Keith Vaughan: Paintings and Gouaches, Instituto de Arte Moderno, Buenos Aires; Gouaches, Redfern Gallery, London

1951: Keith Vaughan: Paintings and Gouaches, Alex Reid and Lefevre Gallery, London

1952: Keith Vaughan: Retrospective Exhibition, Redfern Gallery, London; Keith Vaughan – Drawings for Rimbaud: Une Saison en Enfer, Hanover Gallery, London; Keith Vaughan: Paintings and Gouaches, Durlacher Bros, New York

1953: Keith Vaughan: Paintings, Leicester Galleries, London

1955: Keith Vaughan: Gouaches, Leicester Galleries, London; Keith Vaughan: Paintings and Gouaches, Durlacher Bros, New York

1956: Keith Vaughan: New Paintings, Leicester Galleries, London; Keith Vaughan: Retrospective Show, Hatton Gallery, Newcastle

1957: Keith Vaughan: Travelling Retrospective, (based on Keith Vaughan: Retrospective Show, Hatton Gallery, Newcastle), Arts Council; Keith Vaughan: Paintings and Gouaches, Durlacher Bros, New York

1958: Keith Vaughan: Paintings, Leicester Galleries, London

1959: Keith Vaughan: Paintings and Gouaches, Iowa State University, Ames, IA; Keith Vaughan, Leicester Galleries, London

1960: Keith Vaughan: Paintings, Gouaches and Drawings, Matthiesen Gallery, London

1962: Keith Vaughan: Retrospective Exhibition, Whitechapel Gallery, London

1963: Keith Vaughan: Drawings, Bienal de Sao Paulo

1964: Keith Vaughan: Paintings, Gouaches and Charcoals, Marlborough New London Gallery, London

1965: Keith Vaughan: Gouaches, Bear Lane Gallery, Oxford; Keith Vaughan: Recent Gouaches, Marlborough Fine Art, London

1966: Keith Vaughan: Paintings, Durlacher Bros, New York

1967: Keith Vaughan: Retrospective Drawings, Tib Lane Gallery, Manchester

1968: Keith Vaughan: Gouaches, Rex Evans Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Keith Vaughan: New Paintings, Marlborough Fine Art, London; Keith Vaughan: Gouaches and Drawings 1942–46, Hamet Gallery, London

1969: Keith Vaughan: Retrospective Exhibition, Mappin Gallery, Sheffield; Keith Vaughan: Drawings, Tib Lane Gallery, Manchester

1970: Keith Vaughan: Paintings, Gouaches and Drawings, Bear Lane Gallery, Oxford; Keith Vaughan: Gouaches and Drawings, Hamet Gallery, London; Keith Vaughan: Retrospective, University of York, York

1973: Keith Vaughan: New Paintings, Waddington Galleries, London; Keith Vaughan: Paintings in Gouaches, Victor Waddington Gallery, London

1976: Keith Vaughan: New Paintings and Gouaches, Waddington Galleries, London; Keith Vaughan: Paintings, Gouaches and Drawings, Tib Lane Gallery, Manchester; Keith Vaughan: Paintings and Gouaches and Drawings, Compass Gallery, Glasgow

1977: Keith Vaughan: Memorial Exhibition, Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield

1981: Keith Vaughan: Images of Man: Figurative Paintings: 1946–1960, Geffrye Museum, London and Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery

1985: Keith Vaughan: Drawings and Paintings, New Grafton Gallery, London; Keith Vaughan: Early Drawings and Gouaches, Thomas Agnew & Sons, London

1987: Keith Vaughan: Paintings and Drawings, New Grafton Gallery, London; Keith Vaughan: Paintings, Gouaches, Watercolours and Drawings 1936–76, Austin/Desmond Fine Art, Sunninghill; Keith Vaughan: Paintings, Watercolours and Drawings, Mercury Gallery, Edinburgh; Keith Vaughan: Works on Paper, Garry Anderson Gallery, Darlinghurst

1989: Keith Vaughan, Austin/Desmond Fine Art, London; Keith Vaughan: Gouaches, Drawings, Notebook Sketches, Redfern Gallery, London

1990: Keith Vaughan: Retrospective, Thomas Agnew & Sons, London; Keith Vaughan: Paintings, Drawings, Gouaches, Anthony Hepworth Fine Art, Bath

1991: Drawings of the Young Male, St Jude's, London; Keith Vaughan: Drawings, Anthony Hepworth Fine Art, Bath

1994: Keith Vaughan: Works on Paper, Redfern Gallery, London

1995: Keith Vaughan: Les Illuminations de Rimbaud, an Exhibition of 42 Drawings, Deka, London; Keith Vaughan: Paintings, Drawings and Gouaches, Anthony Hepworth Fine Art, Bath

1999: Keith Vaughan: Gouaches and Drawings, Anthony Hepworth Fine Art, Bath

2000: Keith Vaughan: Paintings, Gouaches, Drawings and Lithographs, Julian Lax, London

2002: Keith Vaughan: Retrospective, Winter Fine Art and Antiques Fair, Olympia, London

2004: Keith Vaughan: Drawings, Anthony Hepworth Fine Art, Bath

2007: Keith Vaughan: Figure and Landscape, Victoria Art Gallery, Bath; Keith Vaughan: A Selection of Early Work from the Collection of Peter Adam, Anthony Hepworth Fine Art, Bath; Keith Vaughan: Paintings and Drawings, Osborne Samuel Gallery, London

2009: Keith Vaughan: Drawings, Abbott and Holder, London

2010: Drawings and Sketches for Paintings 1945–1960, Austin/Desmond Fine Art, London; Keith Vaughan: Four Decades of Drawing, Gallery 27, London

2011: Keith Vaughan: Gouaches, Drawings and Prints, Osborne Samuel Gallery, London; Keith Vaughan: Works on Paper, Anthony Hepworth Fine Art, Bath

2012: Keith Vaughan, Thomas Agnew & Sons, London; Keith Vaughan: Works on Paper from the Estate of Keith Vaughan, Anthony Hepworth Fine Art, Bath; Keith Vaughan: Romanticism to Abstraction, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]; Keith Vaughan, Osborne Samuel Gallery, London^[14]

Collections

Vaughan's work is held in the following permanent collections:

Government Art Collection, UK: 7 works (as of 19 April 2023)^[2]
National Galleries Scotland, UK: 5 works (as of 19 April 2023)^[3]
National Portrait Gallery, London: 1 work (as of 19 April 2023)^[4]
Tate, UK: 1 painting (as of 19 April 2023)^[1]
Victoria and Albert Museum, London: 32 objects (as of 19 April 2023)^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Keith Vaughan 1912–1977". Tate. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Keith Vaughan". Government Art Collection. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Keith Vaughan". www.nationalgalleries.org. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Keith Vaughan - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Search Results - V&A Explore the Collections". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
^ Laing, Olivia (24 March 2017). "Against the law: the LGBT artists branded criminals". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
^ Boyd, William (8 March 2003). "The book of life". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
^ "Keith Vaughan, lot 41, Sotheby's, November 11, 2009". Archived from the original on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
^ "Robin Ironside and Keith Vaughan at Pallant House Gallery – in pictures". the Guardian. 11 March 2012. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
^ Cumming, Laura (11 March 2012). "Robin Ironside: Neo-Romantic Visionary; Keith Vaughan: Romanticism to Abstraction – review". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
^ "Keith Vaughan, Pallant House, Chichester". The Independent. 24 March 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
^ "Robin Ironside: Neo-Romantic Visionary & Keith Vaughan: Romanticism to Abstraction: Visions of longing and exclusion". www.telegraph.co.uk. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
^ "Keith Vaughan: Romanticism to Abstraction, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester". Financial Times. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
^ Hastings, Gerard (2012). Keith Vaughan: Centenary Tribute. Osborne Samuel Ltd. pp. 95–96. ISBN 978-0-9574601-0-2.

External links

102 artworks by or after Keith Vaughan at the Art UK site
Modern British Artists: Vaughan

[tate-1] "Keith Vaughan 1912–1977". Tate. Retrieved 19 April 2023.

[gov-2] "Keith Vaughan". Government Art Collection. Retrieved 19 April 2023.

[nationalgalleries-3] "Keith Vaughan". www.nationalgalleries.org. Retrieved 19 April 2023.

[npg-4] "Keith Vaughan - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2023.

[vam-5] "Search Results - V&A Explore the Collections". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 19 April 2023.

[6] Laing, Olivia (24 March 2017). "Against the law: the LGBT artists branded criminals". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 April 2023.

[7] Boyd, William (8 March 2003). "The book of life". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 April 2023.

[8] "Keith Vaughan, lot 41, Sotheby's, November 11, 2009". Archived from the original on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2012.

[9] "Robin Ironside and Keith Vaughan at Pallant House Gallery – in pictures". the Guardian. 11 March 2012. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 April 2023.

[10] Cumming, Laura (11 March 2012). "Robin Ironside: Neo-Romantic Visionary; Keith Vaughan: Romanticism to Abstraction – review". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 18 April 2023.

[11] "Keith Vaughan, Pallant House, Chichester". The Independent. 24 March 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2023.

[12] "Robin Ironside: Neo-Romantic Visionary & Keith Vaughan: Romanticism to Abstraction: Visions of longing and exclusion". www.telegraph.co.uk. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2023.

[13] "Keith Vaughan: Romanticism to Abstraction, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester". Financial Times. Retrieved 18 April 2023.

[14] Hastings, Gerard (2012). Keith Vaughan: Centenary Tribute. Osborne Samuel Ltd. pp. 95–96. ISBN 978-0-9574601-0-2.

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