Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, National Museum Wales, Towner, York Art Gallery
Donated to UK museums through the Contemporary Art Society, as a bequest from Dr Ronald Lande, in memory of his life partner Walter Urech.
The following museums have been selected to receive work/s from the bequest:
Abbot Hall Gallery, Lakeland Arts Trust
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
Towner, Eastbourne
York Art Gallery
Brighton Museum & Art Gallery
Keith Vaughan (1912 – 1977) was born in West Sussex and is known for his depiction of the male nude. The works in this gift are a mixture of paintings and gouache drawings dating from between 1954 and 1966 and are important examples of how Vaughan’s style pushed the figure of the male nude into almost complete abstraction.
Early influences on Vaughan were those of Cézanne and the Impressionists as well as English Neo-Romantics such as Graham Sutherland, John Minton and John Craxton, some of whom he met during the Second World War. His later influence in abstraction came from Nicolas de Staël, which can be seen in the figures as they became more like linear forms within the image. Vaughan’s reputation grew in the 1950s with important retrospectives of his work at the Whitechapel in 1962 and the University of York in 1970. His work is represented in many public collections across the UK, including Tate and The British Council. This bequest is particularly timely as it coincides with the 100th anniversay of Vaughan’s birth.
Dr Ronald Lande was a great supporter of Vaughan and frequently visited him in his studio. Last year, another work owned by Dr Lande, David Hockney’s A Rake’s Progress was gifted to the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester.