Horizontal Figure

Details

KEITH VAUGHAN (1912-1977)
Horizontal Figure
signed, inscribed and dated 'HORIZONTAL FIGURE/Keith Vaughan/1968' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
40 x 48 in. (101.6 x 121.9 cm.)
Painted in 1968.

Provenance

Acquired directly from the artist by Dr John Ball and Gordon Hargreaves in 1971.
David Hughes.
Sebastian Walker.
His sale; Sotheby's, 20 November 1991, lot 51, where purchased for the present collection.

Literature

The Independent, 26 February 2002, p. 4, illustrated.
Exhibition catalogue, Keith Vaughan: Paintings and Drawings, London, Osborne Samuel, 2007, pp. 50-51, no. 22, illustrated.
A. Hepworth and I. Massey, Keith Vaughan: The Mature Oils 1946-77, Bristol, 2012, p. 172, no. AH499, illustrated.
P. Vann and G. Hastings, Keith Vaughan, Farnham, 2012, pp. 137, 140, pl. 143.

Exhibited

London, Marlborough Gallery, Keith Vaughan: New Paintings, December 1968, no. 2.
Sheffield, Mappin Art Gallery, Keith Vaughan: paintings, gouaches and drawings 1941-68, March - April 1969, no. 27.
Oxford, Bear Lane Gallery, Keith Vaughan: oil paintings, gouaches and drawings, May 1970, no. 1.
Bath, Anthony Hepworth Fine Art, Keith Vaughan: Paintings, Gouaches and Drawings, 1990, no. 5, catalogue not traced.
London, Thomas Agnew & Sons, Keith Vaughan 1912-1977, November - December 1990, no. 5.
London, Olympia Fine Arts and Antiques Fair, Keith Vaughan 1912-1977: an exhibition of paintings and drawings, February - March 2002, no. KV 326.
London, Osborne Samuel, Keith Vaughan: Paintings and Drawings, May - June 2007, no. 22.

Special notice

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Amelia Walker Director, Specialist Head of Private & Iconic Collections

awalker@christies.com +44 20 7389 2085

Lot Essay

Painted in 1968, Horizontal Figure was bought by Professor John Ball and his partner Dr. Gordon Hargreaves in 1971. They considered it one of his most inventive canvases and were particularly impressed by both the eloquent use of pigment and the muted, limited palette. Hargreaves believed it to be one of Vaughan’s most considered comments on the human condition and a direct response to the disturbing figure paintings of Francis Bacon. The artist was particularly pleased that Horizontal Figure entered their collection:

'9 Belsize Park, NW3
25 March, 1971
Dear John, Thank you for your letter & the cheque. John Langstaff called the other day flushed with triumph to announce that he’d “managed to sell” the Horizontal Figure! For my part I couldn’t be more pleased that the picture has found such a sympathetic home. I’m only sorry you had to pay so much for it. But there was nothing I could do about that once the M[arlborough] F[ine] A[rt] had their claws on it. You must choose a drawing of something next time you’re here as a little gift to make up for it. Incidentally I was able to give the canvas its final varnish when I had it back here (it’s only a very thin coat of wax mastic & quite imperceptible). As ever, Keith'

We are very grateful to Gerard Hastings, whose forthcoming book Keith Vaughan: The Graphic Art, is soon to be published by Pagham Press, for his assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.

More from The Collection of Sir Nicholas Goodison - British Art: Innovation and Craftsmanship

View All