I have a great affection for the work of the Russian/French painter Nicolas de Staele who in turn influenced many painters, amongst them being Keith Vaughan. Keith Vaughan was gay, at a time when being gay was illegal. Though his private drawings were erotic, his public work was not. It was painterly and sensual only in that many of his pictures were of groups of nude figures in landscape. Though always men, the figures were rarely sexualised. Often, they were stylised and abstracted to a point where no personality is recognisable.
In the Bradford Cartwright Hall is a wonderful painting by Keith Vaughan where the figures are slightly more explicit: ‘The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastion’.
Though I’m straight, like many artists I enjoy painting the male figure and I painted the following pictures with Keith Vaughan in mind.
