Keith Vaughan

Matthiesen Gallery Ltd., London

Sale, Sotheby's London, 5 May 1994, lot 480

Sale, Christie's South Kensington, 11 December 1997, lot 23, where acquired by the present owner

London, Matthiesen Gallery Ltd., Keith Vaughan Exhibition, 1962, no. 60

Towards the end of the 1950s Vaughan painted dozens of canvases and gouaches of single, male figures with limbs outstretched (see the two oil paintings Study for Lazarus, 1957 and Bather 1958/9). In the present work, one such figure reaches to the edges of the picture, as though to steady himself in a dark and uncertain environment. On a formal level, the gesture locks the pictorial forms into position with the tautness of guy ropes, creating an effective and stabilizing result within the composition.

The isolated youth (no doubt, a projection of the artist’s own psychological state) is depicted naked and vulnerable, inhabiting a hostile, rocky terrain as if to express something of the human condition. His pale, ghost-like skin contrasts with the inky darkness surrounding him. Uncertainty and doubt dogged Vaughan throughout his career on both a personal and creative level and painting, when it was going well, helped maintain a sense of equilibrium and purpose. The year he executed this small, intense work, he wrote in his journal:

"Agreeable sense of poise, purpose and drive continues…No spectacular results, but a feeling of purpose. What do I mean? I think I mean that some sort of figuration is my way. The mooning about in the abstract is not for me. And yet – and yet – am far from really confident or clear. But if I can maintain this poise…"

(Keith Vaughan, unpublished journal entry, January 7, 1958)

Whenever working with stiffer oil piments on canvas proved problematic, or if he required a freer form of expression, Vaughan turned to painting with a mixture of gouache, Indian ink and wax crayons. These paintings on paper were often rapidly produced in the manner of an improvisation, whereby a sketch-like freshness could be retained. The blank paper surface was often employed to supply highlights, as it does here on the rocky, background forms. 

Gerard Hastings.