Keith Vaughan

Estate of the Artist, 1977
Private Collection
Sale, Sotheby's London, 30th April 1986, lot 687 (as Untitled Landscape: Red and Orange)
Crane Kalman Gallery, London, where acquired by Lord & Lady Attenborough, 1st May 1986

London, Hampstead Art Centre, Survey 66, 1966, cat. no.96.

Anthony Hepworth and Ian Massey, Keith Vaughan: The Mature Oils 1946-1977, Sansom and Company, Bristol, 2012, cat. no.AH386, illustrated p.141 (as Untitled: Orange and Red).

The board is sound. The board is very slightly rounded at the extreme corners, with frame abrasions to the edges, with some resultant tiny losses, not visible in the present frame. There are two small areas of very fine reticulation to the thick white pigment. Some of the impasto elements are very slightly flattened. There is a light layer of surface dirt to the work. Subject to the above, the work appears to be in very good overall condition. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals no obvious signs of fluorescence or re-touching. The work is held within a simple gilt wood frame with a canvas slip. 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."

We are grateful to Gerard Hastings, who's new book, Behind the locked Door: Keith Vaughan's Erotic Work is to be published in the Spring of 2017, by Pagham  Press, for his kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present work. (www.thekeithvaughansociety.com)

Vaughan is generally known as a painter of the male figure, but a good deal of his output is of pure landscape subjects. He bought a house in the heart of the Essex countryside two years after painting this work and took great delight in the open farmlands and agricultural buildings that surrounded his property.

 

In the present work, puzzling configurations and enigmatic shapes occupy the foreground, middle ground and distance, while in the background the dark silhouettes of trees can be made out. It is a twilight or nocturnal scene and some of the forms are more identifiable than others, such as the barn with a red window at the far right. Perhaps tree boughs, fence posts and discarded farm implements make up the other, more perplexing pictorial elements. This interplay between figuration and abstraction was something that occupied Vaughan for most of his career. 

Gerard Hastings.