Keith Vaughan

KEITH VAUGHAN Selsey Bill, Sussex 1912 – 1977 London Keith Vaughan was born at Selsey Bill, Sussex in 1912. After studying at Christ’s Hospital, he worked for the Lintas advertising agency until 1939, painting in his spare-time. Initially a conscientious objector, he served in the Pioneer Corps from 1941 to 1944 and as an interpreter in a camp for German POWs. From 1946 he taught at the Camberwell, the Central and the Slade Schools of Art in London, while sharing a studio with John Minton. As other successful Neo-Romantic artists of his generation such as Graham Sutherland, John Piper and Minton, Vaughan rooted his art in nature, seeking to combine figurative and abstract elements. In 1951 he was commissioned to paint a mural for the Dome of Discovery at the Festival of Britain. Vaughan moved to Hampstead in 1952. In 1959 he travelled to the USA visiting Iowa, where he became the Resident Painter at the University, Mexico and Chicago. In 1964 he received an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal College of Art and was awarded the CBE in 1965. In 1966 extracts from his journals dating 1939-1965, were published, revealing despite his considerably success, his reclusive nature and increasing melancholy.