Keith Vaughan

The Estate of the Artist
Prunella Clough
Private Collection
Sale, Sotheby's London, 14th November 2012, lot 183
Private Collection

Unexamined out of the frame. The card appears sound. There is some rounding and rubbing to the corners of the card, and also some losses to the oil around the edges in places. There are some very minor, fine lines of reticulation in several isolated instances. There is a line of vertical craquleure apparent towards the right vertical edge of the work. There is a diagonal incision running from the upper right horizontal edge to the figure just to the right of centre, measuring approximately 36cm., which may be in keeping with the Artist's working methods. There is a scuff at the upper horizontal edge just to the left of centre, with some very small associated flecks of loss, and some further minor scuffs with associated very small losses and instances of slight flattening to the impasto elsewhere. Subject to the above, the work appears to be in good overall condition. The work is difficult to read under ultraviolet light due to the nature of the glass attached to the frame. The work is float mounted and presented in a box frame, held under museum glass. 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, whose new book Awkward Artefacts: The ‘Erotic Fantasies of Keith Vaughan’ is published by Pagham Press in association with the Keith Vaughan Society, for his kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present work.

As part of the 1951 Festival of Britain celebrations Vaughan was commissioned to paint Discovery, an enormous mural for the interior of the Dome of Discovery on the South Bank. No photographic record survives of the fifty-foot mural – Vaughan’s largest single painting – and it was destroyed at the end of the festival when the dome was taken down. This oil panel forms part of a series of highly finished pencil studies, detailed gouaches and oil studies he made in preparation for the mural and gives us an insight into what the finished work looked like.

Vaughan’s imagery encapsulates various moment in man’s evolutionary history – emerging from out of the forest, the harnessing of fire and setting off to discover new lands. It is an essentially optimistic view of mankind, filled with a new range of gestures and poses. The subject provided him with the opportunity to not only depict the male nude in a landscape setting but also infuse the composition with drama and theatrical effect.