Keith Vaughan Explained

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

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, .
Keith Vaughan, His Life and Work, Malcolm Yorke, 1990, published in London by Constable, 288 pages, (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]

External links

- Modern British Artists: Vaughan

Notes and References

Web site: 2023-04-19. Keith Vaughan 1912–1977. Tate.
Web site: 2023-04-19. Keith Vaughan. Government Art Collection.
Web site: 2023-04-19. Keith Vaughan. www.nationalgalleries.org.
Web site: 2023-04-19. Keith Vaughan - National Portrait Gallery. www.npg.org.uk.
Web site: 2023-04-19. Search Results - V&A Explore the Collections. Victoria and Albert Museum.
News: Olivia. Laing. 2023-04-18. Against the law: the LGBT artists branded criminals. The Guardian. 24 March 2017. 0261-3077.
News: William. Boyd. 2023-04-18. The book of life. The Guardian. 8 March 2003. 0261-3077.
Web site: Keith Vaughan, lot 41, Sotheby's, November 11, 2009 . 28 March 2012 . 16 June 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160616202115/http://www.sothebys.com/en/catalogues/ecatalogue.html/2009/a-life-in-pictures-the-collection-of-lord-and-lady-attenborough-l09693#/r=/en/ecat.fhtml.L09693.html+r.m=/en/ecat.lot.L09693.html/41/ . dead .
News: 2023-04-18. Robin Ironside and Keith Vaughan at Pallant House Gallery – in pictures. the Guardian. 11 March 2012. 0261-3077.
News: Laura. Cumming. 2023-04-18. Robin Ironside: Neo-Romantic Visionary; Keith Vaughan: Romanticism to Abstraction – review. The Observer. 11 March 2012. 0029-7712.
Web site: 2023-04-18. Keith Vaughan, Pallant House, Chichester. 24 March 2012. The Independent.
Web site: 2023-04-18. Robin Ironside: Neo-Romantic Visionary & Keith Vaughan: Romanticism to Abstraction: Visions of longing and exclusion. www.telegraph.co.uk. 20 March 2012 .
Web site: 2023-04-18. Keith Vaughan: Romanticism to Abstraction, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester. Financial Times.
Book: Hastings, Gerard. Keith Vaughan: Centenary Tribute. Osborne Samuel Ltd. 2012. 978-0-9574601-0-2. 95–96.