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Theseus and the Minotaure (Interior at Minos) 1950
Yesterday we went to see a small but most satisfying retrospective of Vaughan's work at the Pallant House Gallery. His style and content both attract me, and remind me very much of Matisse's wonderful painting The piano lesson. I like that mix of self-consciously classic pose with a kind of awkward naturalism, the sculptural feel of the figures, and the abstraction of the landscape with the semi-abstraction of the figures. 
The return of the prodigal son 1950
I was delighted and encouraged to learn that Vaughan was self taught, and interested to read that he was influenced by another favourite of mine: Nicholas de Stael. The colours of those landscapes are very different, however.
I very much liked the smaller pieces as well as the large oils. A lithograph entitled The walled garden especially appealed to me.
I very much liked the smaller pieces as well as the large oils. A lithograph entitled The walled garden especially appealed to me.
The links with other painters that I have been thinking particularly about recently are of course inevitable as they were contemporaries - so there are aspects of Graham Sutherland in Vaughan's work, as well as flashes of Francis Bacon, as pointed out in the notes accompanying The Singer.
The Singer 1946 Southampton City Art Gallery
A couple of reviews can be read here and here, the latter of which points out a link back to Picasso's influence. Which makes me think that I need to get going on the third volume of John Richardson's biography of Picasso which has been awaiting my attention for a couple of years.
4 comments:
Interesting to see the similarity in your style of figures to Vaughan's, Olga, so how very inspiring for you.
It is kind of you to compare my figures with those of Vaughan, Marja-Leena. I certainly am finding all of these exhibitions inspiring.
I'm going to hang onto this post, because once I get through the couple of projects that I've been working on, I have vowed to paint human figures, in some sort of context, in every piece I do over this year. Now don't hold me to that "promise" -- it's a goal, not a rule. But that's my hope. I started today and was rather pleased, even though it was very simple and a copy of a photo. Still, just to have started....
Figure painting is so different for me from Figure Drawing as practiced in studio set-ups where almost no context is available or desired. It's not the figure that I'm interested in -- it's the humanity:-)
Thanks for all the info, Olga, and I'm with Marja-Leena -- I saw similiarities between your styles instantly.
The presence of the human can be a powerful element if one can only catch it right. I so agree about figure drawing being a different beast. Good luck with that. I'm all for using photographs as a jumping-off point. I know that at the very least both Francis Bacon and Keith Vaughan did it.
It is interesting that you and Marja-Leena find that my style is similar to Vaughan's. I suppose that we both have/had similar influences. I must ponder further on that.
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