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Lot Essay
In a spirit of post-war optimism, the Festival of Britain opened on London’s South Bank in May 1951, attracting over eight million visitors in five months. Supported by the Arts Council, the festival celebrated national achievements in science, technology and the arts, offering a showcase for a new generation of artists, designers and architects. Its centrepiece, the vast Dome of Discovery, housed a series of displays concerning British innovation. Vaughan was commissioned to produce a large-scale mural for the site.
Titled Discovery, the mural occupied a prominent position within the Dome. Surviving studies indicate it was allegorical, reflecting the festival’s belief in Britain’s historic and continuing role as a civilising force in the world. It was Vaughan’s largest work, measuring three and a half meters high and seventeen meters across, and its sheer scale rendered it impossible to photograph. No visual record of the finished mural seems to have survived, so our understanding of its design, imagery and colour depends on preparatory studies such as the present work.
Broadly, the outer sections of Discovery depict humanity’s primitive beginnings, while the central zone symbolises enlightenment. On the left, figures emerge from a dark, overgrown landscape marked by the skull of an extinct creature and a sinking sun. To the right, a boat suggests humanity’s voyage of exploration, interpreted by some as an allusion to British imperialism. At the centre, a heroic male figure raises a torch, symbolising the triumph of human knowledge and enlightenment.
We are very grateful to Gerard Hastings for preparing this catalogue entry.
Titled Discovery, the mural occupied a prominent position within the Dome. Surviving studies indicate it was allegorical, reflecting the festival’s belief in Britain’s historic and continuing role as a civilising force in the world. It was Vaughan’s largest work, measuring three and a half meters high and seventeen meters across, and its sheer scale rendered it impossible to photograph. No visual record of the finished mural seems to have survived, so our understanding of its design, imagery and colour depends on preparatory studies such as the present work.
Broadly, the outer sections of Discovery depict humanity’s primitive beginnings, while the central zone symbolises enlightenment. On the left, figures emerge from a dark, overgrown landscape marked by the skull of an extinct creature and a sinking sun. To the right, a boat suggests humanity’s voyage of exploration, interpreted by some as an allusion to British imperialism. At the centre, a heroic male figure raises a torch, symbolising the triumph of human knowledge and enlightenment.
We are very grateful to Gerard Hastings for preparing this catalogue entry.