During World War II Keith Vaughn first exhibited his art.  He was a conscientious objector and served into the Non-Combatant Corps.  After the war he associated with other artists and briefly participated in the Neo-Romantic movement. 

His style became increasingly idiosyncratic and he began concentrating on abstract studies of the male.  His style has been called Semi-Abstract because the natural form behind the abstraction is still visible.  Vaughn taught at Camberwell College of Arts, Central School of Art and the Slade School before his death by suicide in 1977.  He was 55 years old and had been diagnosed with cancer.