About

Tom Keogh was born in the USA in 1921. He traveled to Europe and was probably involved in World War 2 there, although no details are known.

Tom Keogh, an American, burst on to the cover of French Vogue's Christmas issue for 1947 and for the next 4 years he maintained a conspicuous and continuous presence in its pages, before disappearing as abruptly as he had arrived.

It is remarkable that only the French edition was allowed to enjoy his fluent, often extravagantly pretty images. He had a confident, throwaway simplicity of statement. There is also his free projection, figures cast out into an elegant seductive limbo.

Keogh had a wonderful graphic panache, all wrist as it were and the lightest flick of the brush to close off the flow of the loaded brush.

He reflected a new spirit, a flatter colour and simplified outline yet in all his moods is unmistakably himself. He illustrated Mad Carpentier in 1948, Balenciaga in 1949, and a double picture of Lanvin and Balmain gowns in 1950.

His art career for the next 30 years is a blank for this website, and in case anyone knows the biographical details please send them to [email protected]

Tom Keogh died in 1980 at the age of 61.

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