Keith Vaughan

Fischer Fine Art Ltd, London
Mercury Gallery, London
Private Collection, London

London, Fischer Fine Art Ltd, The British Neo-Romantics, 1935-1950, 13th July - 19th August 1983, cat. no.69, illustrated p.28, with tour to the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff.

The sheet is partially laid down onto backing card. The sheet undulates slightly. There are a couple of very small indentations to the sheet around the collaged element, inkeeping with the artist's technique. There is a small fleck of possible loss in the sky area. There is very minor light staining to the extreme lower edge, possibly inkeeping with a previous frame. Subject to the above, the work appears to be in very good overall condition. The work is framed and glazed, float-mounted with a linen slip and housed in a simple painted wooden frame. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The poetry of Rimbaud (1854-1891) formed a central part of Vaughan’s literary diet and held a deep fascination for him. He made numerous drawings and, later in his life, painted a series of gouaches inspired by the young poet’s lines and phrases. Being fluent in French, he read his texts in the original language. In 1949 he illustrated an edition of Une Saison en Enfer, which was published by John Lehmann. It was a new translation by Norman Cameron and Vaughan supplied eight coloured lithographs and that volume is much sought after today. This is the original drawing for the penultimate prose poem Matin. Vaughan’s inscription is a quotation from the poem, which comes towards the end of the verse:

'From the same wilderness, in the same night, my tired eyes always awaken to the same silver star; always, though the Kings of life, the three magi – the heart, the soul, the spirit – are not stirred. Where shall we go, beyond the shorelines and the mountains, to hail the birth of the new work, the new wisdom, the flight of tyrants and demons, the end of superstition, to worship – the first to do so! – Christmas on Earth?'

This is a highly evocative drawing made with pen and ink, wax crayons, inky washes and touches of gouache. In many ways it sums up both the style and the imagery associated with British Neo-Romanticism with its dark, brooding, monochromatic landscape and desolate atmosphere. Graham Sutherland’s lithographs for Francis Quarles’ Hieroglyphikes on the Life on Man, published by Poetry London in 1943, have undoubtedly influenced Vaughan’s use of spiky line and improvised drawing style.

 In his final days Rimbaud’s poems still absorbed Vaughan. On September 8 1977, three pages before his final journal entry and suicide note, he wrote:

'One of the most flattering things which has happened to me over the past few years is to have three of my Rimbaud gouaches bought by Professor [Cecil Arthur] Hackett. I first met him at Victor Waddington’s party where I was showing the first of the drawings – ‘Antique.’ I was introduced to him and of course had no idea who he was. Much to my surprise he asked me if ‘Antique’ has any reference to Rimbaud’s poem of that name. I replied that it had and managed to quote fairly accurately the lines which had particularly inspired me. A few minutes later I noticed a red spot go on the frame and he had bought it. Shortly afterwards he sent me his small monograph on Rimbaud (Rimbaud, Hillary House, New York, 1957) and I realised that not only was he Professor of French at Southampton University but a Rimbaud specialist who had written several books on the subject. His understanding seemed exactly like my own. When subsequently he bought two more of the later gouaches last year from Leslie I felt that my instinctive reactions to Rimbaud were not as wayward and bizarre as I feared they might be.'

We are grateful to Gerard Hastings, author of Drawing to a Close: The Final Journals of Keith Vaughan (Pagham Press, 2012) and Keith Vaughan the Photographs (Pagham Press, 2013), for compiling these notes.