Keith Vaughan (1912-1977)

Vaughan's late drawings are the culmination of decades of draughtsmanship; we see him chasing the fleeting thought and keeping his mental fantasies animated whilst giving them visual form. They give voice to what Dr. John Ball described as 'Keith's complex sexuality and his refined artistic vision. They are wonderfully evocative and masterfully concise. For me they're some of the finest things that Keith produced - distilled rather like Beethoven's late quartets or Eliot's best poems - seemingly effortless yet packed with significance. There's such an economy of means - a few lines express an entire biography or a complex persona. Keith drew to work out his passions and make his emotional requirements concrete. Most are terribly personal and so very moving in their honesty; they're concerned with basic and often brutal human truths and examine complicated inter-relationships - what more can one ask of an artist?' (Exhibition catalogue, Keith Vaughan: Four Decades of Drawing, London, Gallery 27, September 2010.)
G.H.