Man with army; Idol II, 1940

In 1941 Vaughan was attached to the Pioneer Corps and was stationed at Salisbury Plain then in the Wylie Valley. He worked on the land and, having been brought up in London, was struck by the endless possibilities the countryside offered in terms of poetic and formal subjects for paintings. During that time he filled sketch-books with drawings of the surrounding terrain and daily army life. Despite their small-scale and apparent effortlessness, some of these images communicate an uncommon visionary and poetic intensity. Vaughan's recurring romantic themes include giant Ozymandias-like figures, oversized flowers, abundant foliage, clouds of starlings in mid-flight, dream-like heads and visions of felled trees. Initially these studies were intended to be subjects for paintings and he frequently inscribed them with written notations concerning colour and pictorial character. In his journal at this time he wrote with equal poetic intensity:

Country of wooded hills and lush valleys. Piles of soft hay covered with pink chestnut blossom. Yellow bellied horses with glistening flanks. Bronzed arms brushed with golden down. All day reaping, turning lifting in the steamy heat. The sun spins up through veils of mist, crosses the sky and sinks in cloudy gold. (Keith Vaughan, Journal: June 1941)

While Vaughan's drawings and sketches accumulated, army conditions precluded any serious or sustained painting activities, and he had to confine himself to making such studies asthe present works.

G.H.