National Museum Of Wales

The national museum of wales is the second exhibition that I have attended with my college.There was a lot to see at the museum but the main focus was to study two artist that fell in conjunction with human form and identity, Keith Vaughn and Howard Hodgkin.Howard hodgkin is a passionate collector of Indian paintings which did lend good insight into the people, culture and customs.
I am focusing on Vaughans work for this piece of writing as it speaks more in the range of my studies.
Keith Vaughan was an English painter and writer, he had great diversity having his hand in printmaking, drawing and photography. Some of the work I viewed of Vaughans holds testament to his mixed skill set. Each area was identifiable based of the imagery and what it communicated to me, I am learning this as an artist.
When Vaughan made entrance into the art world he was part of the neo romanticism movement which took place in WW2, his paintings were generally landscape pieces.
Vaughan later abandoned neo romanticism to focus more on the male form and becoming more abstract.
I can give an example of this transition by looking at the barrack room in 1942 and the blue boy in 1949.
The barrack room I see as a more traditional approach to vaughans choice of medium which looks like water colour and  the setting lends itself to the time he spent with st johns ambulance and his living quarters. The blue boy is less obvious in terms of the setting as the male is the focal point and the colour speaks a sense of emotion though the blue to me doesn't reflect sadness but more a moment of suspended thought, you can see Vaughans abstract influence which is carried by lithograph. As an experimenting student lithograph isnt something I have tried yet and am open to trying when presented.
My view on Vaughns work is  a mixed one, though he had great and varied skill in what he did and I can't help but feel slight discomfort by a majority of his work, "communication of hate" being an example of one, also the selection of colour and setting is not of my taste.
Dont get me wrong all of his work doesn't speak to me this way,his gallery work such as "lovers in a garden" and "standing figure" shined through in its medium and concept.
Looking into Vaughns history i can understand why his work holds dark undertones, it is said serving in st johns ambulance affected vaughan as he would often see dead or wounded soldiers. I learned that he documented written work and drawings in a journal about the insecurity of his work and and his homosexuality which also troubled him.
For a man who had gained wide recognition in the art world you'd think Vaughan was a happy balanced individual but with success doesn't always come happiness, i commend his efforts to achieve his goals through his troubled times may he rest in piece.
Visiting the museum and doing my research on in a way helps me to better understand the fundamentals needed to achieve ones goals through diversity and perseverance.