An art piece of three people bathing by British painter, John Keith Vaughan, will auction between £30,000 and £50,000 this week.

Chiswick Auctions will be selling the piece titled 'Foreshore with Three Figures' on 26 March from 2pm which features three male nude figures bathing together in shallow waters of a secluded cove.

Created in 1963, the work sees a man on the left and viewed in profile, sitting on a rock watching the others wash and dry themselves, while a steep, background cliff encloses the scene at the right.

'Foreshore with Three Figures' is signed 'Vaughan' on the bottom right of the canvas (credit: Chiswick Auctions).

The auction house says: "Groups of male bathers is a quintessential Vaughan subject, one which he painted throughout his career.

"During the early 1930s he frequented the male swimming enclosure at Highgate Ponds and, later, spent his summer weekends at Pagham Beach taking photographs and making drawings of his friend larking about on the hot shingle.

"In the 1970s he dug out a sizeable pool at the end of his garden in Essex and, in the summer months, invited friends to stay over and have a swim."

Chiswick Auctions add: "But it was his first visit to Greece in 1960 which transformed Vaughan's approach to painting bather subjects.

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"From then on, the Aegean Sea was translated into expanses of blue in his oil paintings and gouaches, while his once sombre, earthy palette became infused with hot, succulent colours."

The back of the piece by the British painter is marked 'Foreshore with 3 Figures 1963' (credit: Chiswick Auctions).

'Foreshore with Three Figures' is part of the private collection of the late BBC film maker, Peter Adam, who was known to be close to Keith Vaughan.

Born in 1912, the painter was known for his expressive figurative art exploring themes like male intimacy and isolation.

He was part of the post-war British art scene and associated with the Neo-Romantic movement. Vaughan's bold, colourful paintings are seen as reflections of his personal struggles as a gay man, offering viewers a deep look into human emotions and desires.

To find out more about this art work and Chiswick Auctions, click here.

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