Keith Vaughan


John Keith Vaughan was a British painter, graphic artist, illustrator, photographer, teacher and journal writer. Although mainly working with oil paint, he is also considered one of Britain's finest exponents of gouache painting. His main subjects were: male nudes, landscapes and still lifes. Among his key works are a 22-meter-long mural at the Festival of Britain and his nine Assembly of Figures paintings. His work is held in public collections in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and various other countries.

Biography

Early life

Keith Vaughan was born at Selsey in West Sussex. After his father abandoned his wife and two sons, the family moved to North London. From 1921-30, he was a boarder at Christ's Hospital school in Horsham, where the art master, H.A. Rigby, encouraged him to develop his artistic talents. From 1931-39 he worked at Lintas advertising agency. In his spare time he took up photography and painting. He visited Paris and various places in Germany. On leaving Lintas, he spent a year painting in the country. Around this time, he began writing his private journal, which he kept until his death.
At the outbreak of World War II, he joined the St. John Ambulance as an intending conscientious objector. He was conscripted into the Non-Combatant Corps in 1941, then into the Royal Pioneer Corps, working as a clerk and German interpreter. His younger brother, Dick, joined the Royal Air Force and was killed at age twenty-five in 1940.

Artistic 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.
During the war Vaughan formed friendships with the painters Graham Sutherland, Prunella Clough 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.

Teaching career

During the post-war years, Vaughan worked as an art teacher in London, first at the Camberwell College of Arts, from around 1950 at the Central School of Arts and Crafts. Throughout the 1960s and 70s he taught mostly part-time at the Slade School of Fine Art.

Later life and death

Vaughan was diagnosed with cancer in 1975. He underwent surgery and radiotherapy but became increasingly depressed and unable to work. During the last year of his life, he received counseling and assistance from his old friend and doctor, Patrick Woodcock. He died by taking a drugs overdose in 1977 in his London studio, recording his last moments in his diary.

Legacy

Notable paintings

One of Vaughan's key works was a large mural that he painted in the Dome of Discovery on London's South Bank as part of the Festival of Britain. The mural depicted Theseus holding up a light torch amidst explorers. The painting reflected the optimism of the time, the overall theme of the exhibition. After having been viewed by millions of people, the mural was destroyed along with the pavillion in late 1951. Several studies remain.
From 1951 to 1976 Vaughan produced Assembly of Figures, a set of nine major oil paintings. He created several other series of related works with similar titles, such as Small Assembly of Figures, Small Red Assembly, Blue Assembly of Figures, Dark Assembly, Red Assembly, and the large paintings Crowd Assembling I and II. All these paintings are of male nude or semi-nude figures set in semi-abstracted landscapes and engaged in undetermined activities.

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.

Journals

Vaughan is also known for his 61 journals, spanning 38 years, from 1939 to the final moments in 1977 where he lost consciousness prior to his chosen death. Selections from his journals were published in 1942 and 1966, and more extensively in 1983—84, 1989, 2012 and 2023, after his death. A gay man troubled by his sexuality, he is known largely through those journals. His journal entry of July 18, 1965 illustrates his struggles as a gay man in a society that rejected homosexuality:

Exhibitions

;1944
;1946
;1948
;1950
;1951
;1952
;1953
;1955
;1956
;1957
;1958
;1959
;1960
;1962
;1963
;1964
;1965
;1966
;1967
;1968
;1969
;1970
;1973
;1976
;1977
;1981
;1985
;1987
;1989
;1990
;1991
;1994
;1995
;1999
;2000
;2002
;2004
;2007
;2009
;2010
;2011
;2012
;2019
;2023

Public Collections (selection)

Vaughan's work is held in the following public collections:
;UK
;Australia
;Canada
;Israel
;New Zealand
;Portugal
;USA