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Lot Essay
In several late sketchbooks dating from 1975 Vaughan investigated the poetry of Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891), his favourite poet. Single words and short phrases frequently inspired his visual responses. These usually take the form of rapidly executed illustrations and urgently noted drawings. The late Professor John Ball observed, 'Keith was an avid reader and I am convinced that he drew while actually reading poetry, making automatic visual interpretations of lines, phrases and even individual words. Perhaps he was trying to grasp a visual image before his mental image had evaporated' (Private correspondance).
Rimbaud's Génie character is as complex as he is contradictory and features in, Conte, a prose poem from Les Illuminations, (c.1873/5). In his personal copy of Oeuvres de Arthur Rimbaud, Vaughan inscribed an asterisk at either side of the poem's title, writing alongside it: 'Key piece to Les Illuminations'. The particular lines which Vaughan illustrate in the present work are: 'Mais ce Prince décéda, dans son palais, á un âge ordinaire. Le Prince était le Génie. Le Génie était le Prince.' ('Yet the Prince passed away in his palace, at the customary age. The Prince was the Genie. The Genie was the Prince.')
A characteristic quality of Vaughan's late drawing style is the manner in which he conceives the two figures. He expresses not only form, character and erotic sensation but does so with the utmost economy. For example the two figures merge into one and their nipples gently touch each other.
G.H.
Rimbaud's Génie character is as complex as he is contradictory and features in, Conte, a prose poem from Les Illuminations, (c.1873/5). In his personal copy of Oeuvres de Arthur Rimbaud, Vaughan inscribed an asterisk at either side of the poem's title, writing alongside it: 'Key piece to Les Illuminations'. The particular lines which Vaughan illustrate in the present work are: 'Mais ce Prince décéda, dans son palais, á un âge ordinaire. Le Prince était le Génie. Le Génie était le Prince.' ('Yet the Prince passed away in his palace, at the customary age. The Prince was the Genie. The Genie was the Prince.')
A characteristic quality of Vaughan's late drawing style is the manner in which he conceives the two figures. He expresses not only form, character and erotic sensation but does so with the utmost economy. For example the two figures merge into one and their nipples gently touch each other.
G.H.