Figures in a Landscape
Keith Vaughan 1912 – 1977: I am not sure why I claimed him as a personal favourite when I first wrote about him in in December 2021. I have been besotted with him since. Vaughan was regarded as a neo romantic. His work is also highly graphic with a ‘motif’ approach to representing the landscape.
Roommates with Graham Sutherland and John Milton, their influences are clearly seen in his work. As is his time in Sussex and Kent coast and in my beloved Essex.
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Figures are often seen in Vaughan’s work, and often the focal point for several his paintings and drawings. They featured predominantly across his oeuvre. This whole idea of man being as big as the landscape of which he is part. A landscape, often driven to abstraction, is just a stage for boys to pose or exercise. Self-taught although Vaughan himself taught at the Slade, Camberwell and St, Martins many of the drawings demonstrate a natural, relaxed understanding of anatomy and form and the skill to translate these into intimate studies,
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Vaughan had little truck with his contemporary culture. He said, “I find echoes in Arden, Beethoven and Cezanne”. Certainly, one can see influences from Cezanne, Matisse, and Nicolas de Staël, in the latter’s colour palette.
One of the most precious book on my shelf is Keith Vaughan Journal and drawings 1939 – 1965 by Alan Ross 1966.
Arguably every artist is a voyeur, we are looking into, examining in private, what we see before us and giving it some permanency. We see Vaughan observing everyday life and landscape, familiarly and confidently.
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RIGHT NOW
Beaux Arts London is showcasing work by Keith Vaughan as part of Resilience And Renewal Exhibition https://www.beauxartslondon.uk. Also in the show, which runs until 4 February 2026 David Bomberg, Lynn Chadwick, Alan Davie, Mary Fedden, Elisabeth Frink, Terry Frost, Patrick Heron, John Hoyland, Patrick Hughes, John Piper, Tim Pomeroy, Desmond Morris, Anthony Scott, and Alfred Wallis.
Colour Images © the estate of Keith Vaughan. All rights reserved, 2026 DACS. Image credit: Manchester Art Gallery
Category: Art Practise, Galleries & Exhibitions, Inspiration