Keith Vaughan (1912–??1977), a major figure in post-war British art is known for his searching portraits of the male nude and his association with the Neo-Romantic painters. Celebrating the centenary of his birth, this book provides for the first time a definitive, illustrated account of his life and work. By drawing on Vaughan’s considerable writings it explores many aspects of the personal professional and philosophical inner life.

‘Keith Vaughan occupies a unique position in British art owing to his desire to marry eroticism with ‘permanent, formal, classical values’. A complex, conflicted character, he dismissed Bacon’s ‘spiv-existentialist outlook’ and instead stripped down the human figure in such a way as to bring out man’s dignity and self-possession. This book will contribute to the growing interest in this artist, while Gerard Hastings’s essay on the gouaches draws attention to a previously overlooked aspect of Vaughan’s work.’ Frances Spalding