Bather

A single bather, or group of bathers in a landscape, was one of Vaughan’s preferred subjects and he painted many examples over the course of his career, each imbued with a sense of poignancy. In the present work the figure stands before a lake or lagoon; he is centrally placed and turns away from the viewer. On the foreshore we can make out the gable end of a house and the sloping roof of a building. The figure stands alone and naked. The bowed head, sense of stillness and loose, hanging limbs suggest a moment of resignation and quiet reflection. His nakedness and isolation from others, perhaps, alludes to man’s innate vulnerability.
Vaughan’s use of colour is particularly rich and his application varied. Pigment is employed as an equivalent of flesh and the use of a ‘wet-on-wet’ paint technique along with parallel hatchings, creates a fresh and highly sensuous effect. Every stage of the painting’s making remains apparent in the final image where we detect the artist’s preparatory underlayers breathing through the upper brush tracks.
We are very grateful to Gerard Hastings for preparing this catalogue entry. His latest book, Keith Vaughan, The Graphic Work, will be published by Pagham Press in due course.