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List of figures referred to below:

E	Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, AH281 (1958)Oil on hardboard 88.9 x 120.7 cm. Bradford Museums and Galleries. Available at: https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-martyrdom-of-saint-sebastian-23516 (Accessed 27/04/19)
F	Assembly of Figures, AKA First Assembly of Figures, AH129 (1952)Oil on board 142.2 x 116.8 cm. Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich.  Available at: http://www.thekeithvaughansociety.com/2016/11/24/first-assembly-figures-1952/ (Accessed 27/04/19)
G	Eldorado Banal – Ninth Assembly of Figures (1976) Oil on Canvas 114.3 x 152.4 cm. AH594 Tate Gallery Collection. Available at:  http://www.thekeithvaughansociety.com/2016/11/17/ninth-assembly-figures-eldorado-banal-1976%E2%80%A8/ (Accessed 27/04/19)
H	Crowd Assembling II (1968) AH484 Oil on canvas 101.6 x 91.4 cm. Private collection. Available at: http://66.media.tumblr.com/1fa94da19ae4941a0ff98c9365aa9925/tumblr_mvenbpKUfo1rvpbxco1_1280.jpg (Accessed 27/04/19)

Initial Research question:

To what extent does consideration of Keith Vaughan’s use of the terminology of ‘assembly’ illuminate his understanding of the interaction between compositional, iconographic and socio-political issues in twentieth-century painting?

The primary visual material is the Assembly series from First Assembly of Figures (1952) to Eldorado Banal – Ninth Assembly of Figures (1976).^[1]Although the word and lexical variant ‘Assembling’ will also identify key works and theme, such as Blue Assembly of figures (1964) and Crowd Assembling II (1968).^[2]

The sequence of treatment of issues in the question could be:

1. The semantics of ‘assembly’ in Vaughan and art-history. Some reference is used to the relevant development of this term into contemporary art-history from cultural theorists such as Rancière and Latour.^[3] However, the main aim is to trace its use in Vaughan’s titles, practice and private & published writing in the initial bibliography, together with lexical cognates like ‘group’. The relative interchangeability of the terms will be considered. Possible other contemporary analogues in the art of the period may appear through the research
2.  The theoretical use of the term in Vaughan will be investigated through texts created by Vaughan. These suggest it is used to unite issues of stylistic composition, iconography and theme or meaning. For instance the 1958 discussion in ‘Painter’s Progress’.

• These compositions … No longer incorporated in the church or any codified system of belief the Assemblies are deprived of literary significance or illustrative meaning. …They attempt a summary and condensed statement of a relationship between things, …^[4]

Since Vaughan’s literary work is so often on the cusp of published and unpublished or private and public statement the issue of the autobiographical texts cannot be ignored, including the Journals.

• Because of the latter issue, the opening case study will look at the use of assemblies / groupings from earlier painterly traditions, focusing on the problems of form and interpretation in Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian (1958) and recent attempts to find the meaning of these grouped males in private or occluded themes of personal sexuality by Hastings.^[5] The aim is to see how Vaughan uses the assembly to interpret art-historical traditions for his age.

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• Fuelled by these readings the argument concentrates on the visual analysis of the Assembly series and fellow-travellers. Samples are given as Figures E-H. The textual material examined will include published journals (possibly unpublished ones if made available), essays in periodicals, catalogues and monographs.

• Although visual analysis of oil-paintings predominates, I propose to use studies – those for the Laocoon Group for instance – and book illustrations (notably in the Journal published in his lifetime). Vaughan once described his assemblies as manifesting the ‘urge to reduce disparate forms to common compatible elements’, a phrase concealing more than it reveals on the surface.^[6]  His prose challenges over-simple hermeneutic models.

References

Hastings, G. (2017) Awkward Artefacts: The ‘Erotic Fantasies’ of Keith Vaughan Pagham, The Pagham Press with The Keith Vaughan Society.

Hepworth, A. & Massey, I. (2012) Keith Vaughan: The Mature Oils 1946-1977: A commentary and a catalogue raisonné Bristol, Sansom & Company Ltd.

Latour, B. (2005) Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Papastergiadis, N. & Esche, C. (2014) ‘Assemblies in Art and Politics: An Interview with Jacques Rancière’ in Theory, Culture & Society 31 (7/8) 27-41. DOI: 10.1177/0263276413476559 Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0263276413476559 (Accessed 04/04/19).

Bibliography in addition for consulted and usable resources

Agnew’s (1990) Keith Vaughan: 1912-1977 Catalogue London, Agnew’s.

Austin/Desmond Fine Art (ud) Keith Vaughan: Catalogue of Paintings, Gouaches, Watercolours and Drawings 1936-1976 Sunninghill, Berks., Austin/Desmond Fine Art.

Austin/Desmond Fine Art (ud) Keith Vaughan: 1912-1977 Catalogue London, Austin/Desmond Fine Art.

Barber, N. (1964) Conversations with Painters London, Collins

Clark, A. & Dronfield, J. (2015) Queer Saint: The Cultured Life of Peter Watson who shook Twentieth-Century Art and Shocked High society London, John Blake

Cruse, C. (Ed.) (2013) Keith Vaughan: Figure and Ground: Drawings, Prints and photographs Bristol, Sansom & Company Ltd.

Graham, P. & Boyd, S. (Ed.) (1991) Keith Vaughan 1912-1977: Drawings of the Young Male London, GMP Publishers Ltd.

Hastings, G. (2012) Drawing To A Close: The Final Journals of Keith Vaughan Pagham, The Pagham Press.

Hastings, G. (2016) Paradise Found & Lost: Keith Vaughan in Essex Pagham, Pagham Press.

Hastings, G. (2016) ‘Introduction to the Nine Assemblies’ in The Keith Vaughan Society Website. Available at: http://www.thekeithvaughansociety.com/2016/11/25/introduction-nine-assemblies/ (Accessed 27/04/19)

Hepworth, A. (2007) Keith Vaughan: Figure and Landscape Bath, North East Somerset Council

Julian Lax (2000) Keith Vaughan: Catalogue of a Collection of Paintings, Gouaches, Drawings and Lithographs London, Julian Lax.

Turner, J.L. (2016) The Visitors’ Book: In Francis Bacon’s Shadow: The Lives of Richard Chopping and Denis Wirth-Miller London, Constable

Vann, P. & Hastings, G. (2012) Keith Vaughan Farnham, Lund Humphries.

Vaughan, K. (1944) ‘A View of English Painting’ in New Writing And Daylight Winter 1943-1944 London, John Lehmann. 87-96

Vaughan, K. (1946) ‘At the Klee Exhibition’ in New Writing And Daylight 1946 London, John Lehmann.

Vaughan, K. (1966) Journals & Drawings 1939-1965 London, Alan Ross

Vaughan, K. (1985) ‘The Way We Live Now’ in The Penguin New Writing 1940-1950 London, John Lehmann. 39-41

Vaughan, K. (2010) Journals 1939-1977 London, Faber & Faber

Wright, P. (ud) Keith Vaughan on Pagham Beach: Photographs and Collages from the 1930s London, Austin/Desmond Fine Art.

Yorke, M. (1990) Keith Vaughan: His Life and Work London, Constable

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[1] Hepworth & Massey(2012:77,192)

[2] Ibid:152,169

[3] Papastergiadis, N. & Esche (2014), Latour (2005)

[4] In Studio August 1958 cited Hepworth & Massey (2012:76)

[5] Hastings (2017)

[6] 1952, cited Hepworth & Massey(2012:77)