Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level F , Case TOPIC, Shelf 15, Box LGBTQ

The Woodman

Print
1949 (made)
Artist/Maker
Vaughan, Keith (artist)
Place of origin
Britain (made)

Colour lithograph depicting a man looking to the left, naked from the waist up. The background has a wood like texture. Signed and dated in pencil. Colour used: green, blue and black.


Object details

Categories
Prints
LGBTQ
Object type
Print
TitleThe Woodman (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Colour lithograph
Paper
Lithographic Ink
Lithography
Brief description
'The Woodman', colour lithograph by Keith Vaughan, Great Britain, 1949.
Physical description
Colour lithograph depicting a man looking to the left, naked from the waist up. The background has a wood like texture. Signed and dated in pencil. Colour used: green, blue and black.
Dimensions
  • Height: 46.2cm
  • Width: 31.8cm
Marks and inscriptions
'Keith Vaughan / 49' (Signed and dated in pencil, below the print, right-hand corner.)
Object history
The sitter for this work was probably John McGuinness who was a regular model for the artist. They met in 1948, the year before this print was made, and became lifelong friends. The figure resembles the sitter in 'Seated Boy in a Landscape' (1948). Vaughan described McGuinness in his 1975 journal as being 'the best person I know. We have not much area of contact, neither sexual nor intellectual. But he is a saint'.
Bibliographic references
  • Taken from Departmental Circulation Register 1950
  • The following quote by Peter Meyer is taken from Hastings, G. and Vaughan, K. (2012). 'Drawing to a close: The Final Journals of Keith Vaughan'. p.89: 'It was all part of his physical and sexual persona and came entirely out of his sexual involvement. Keith was very physical but, and this is the point, was able to intellectualise and somehow sublimate his feelings into paint. He turned his turn-ons into pictures - something worthwhile and lasting; they weren't just visual stimulation in a sexual way.'
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
CIRC.115-1950

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1038347/the-woodman-print-vaughan-keith/
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