Keith Vaughan
Male nudes II
Ballpoint pen sketch
17 x 13 cm
Born in 1912, Keith Vaughan was a British painter known for his modernist and semi-abstract depictions of the male figure. He was self-taught as an artist but during his time as a conscientious objector in the Second World War, he befriended the painters Graham Sutherland and John Minton. Through these contacts, he formed part of the neo-romantic circle of the immediate post-war period. Over time, Vaughan’s idiosyncratic style evolved away from the group as he focussed on
male nudes and groups, often rendered in a geometric yet lyrical manner.
Vaughan was openly gay at a time when homosexuality was criminalised in Britain. As a result, his work often reflected themes of isolation and desire, capturing both the physical and emotional aspects of human existence. He continues to be celebrated today and his works are held in several major galleries, inlcuding the National Galleries of Scotland, the National Portrait Gallery, the Tate and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
This sketch was taken from Vaughan’s ‘Ischia Cheese & Grill’ sketchbook. It depicts a number of male nudes, each drawn with a sculptural quality, seemingly modelled from busts in an art gallery; interestingly it also seems to be a reiteration of another of his sketches of male nudes, drawn from a more distanced perspective, allowing the viewer to better take in the surrounding busts and sculptures. Together the drawings in the sketchbook record Vaughan’s experimentalism with landscape, abstraction and notably his commitment to the human form. This collection was sold as part of Peter Adam’s estate; Adam was not just a close friend of Vaughan but his executor, biographer and the curator of multiple exhibitions of his work after he died in 1977.
This sketch represents the unique opportunity to own a small piece of Keith Vaughan’s oeuvre as he continues to grow in popularity.