Figure Group at Cumae

Cumae was one of the first locations in Italy to be colonised by the ancient Greeks. Later it was incorporated into the Roman Empire being strategically important since the open sea offered safe anchorage, to the west and, to the east, fertile plains sustained rich agriculture.

Three figures, communicating a sense of apprehension and trepidation, occupy the foreground with the sea and distant cliffs forming the backdrop. This is one of Vaughan’s few paintings which might imply a narrative since he characterises them as warriors or wardens defending their newly acquired territory. The two at the right clasp sticks and, above the head of the other, we can make out that he also originally held a weapon behind his back. On a more universal level, perhaps they express the vulnerabilities, anxieties and primitive fears of mankind in general. Whatever the case, the composition echoes the photographs Vaughan took of his friends playing on the beach at Pagham in the late 1930s, where animated groups of figures are placed against the sky and ocean.

Vaughan employs a largely monochromatic palette of harmonised blues and creams. The pigment is applied in broad, gestural stokes while bold outlines describe the anatomical forms.

We are very grateful to Gerard Hastings for preparing this catalogue entry, whose new book on Keith Vaughan’s graphic art is to be published later in the year by Pagham Press in Association with the Keith Vaughan Society.