Lot 145: VAUGHN FLANNERY

signed Vaughn Flannery lower right and inscribed on the reverse of the panel Man O'War in Retirement/ Faraway Farm, Lexington, Kentucky/ 28 x 40 Vaughn Flannery/ resin oil on gesso/ At the time the studies for this were made/ Man O'War was 27 years old

oil on panel

28 by 40 in.<br><br>71.1 by 101.6 cm

1898-1955

Saratoga, National Museum of Racing, Vaughan Flannery in Retrospect, July 30-August 31, 1969
Saratoga, National Racing Museum, From Man O'War to Lonesome Glory: The Jeffords Collection, July 3-September 7, 1998

Kraushaar Galleries, New York
Acquired by Walter Jeffords, Jr. December 20, 1969

The relationship between the Jeffords family and Vaughnn Flannery is a long and interesting story. Walter M. Jeffords, Sr. was one of the earliest collectors of Flannery's works. In all, at one time or another, the Jeffords family has owned over 30 of the artist's paintings. Over the years a dozen or so have been passed on to friends and other thoroughbred aficionados. Flannery, for his part, did his first pictures of Man O'War in the 1930s prior to even knowing Jeffords.

Walter Jeffords, Sr. first tried to commission Flannery in 1942 when he inquired through Antoinette Kraushaar if the artist would undertake a commission to paint his stables in Kentucky. While nothing came of this initial attempt, Flannery did agree to travel to Kentucky in June of 1944. In a letter to Kraushaar the artist said, "Man O'War would make a great project... and I enjoy making pictures of mares and foals at liberty in their natural habitat."

At the Jeffords' Faraway Farm, Flannery made numerous sketches of Man O'War, Judy O'Grady, sketches of mares and foals, stud barns, brood mares barns and paddocks. Flannery attested to his success in another letter to Kraushaar, "My two weeks in Kentucky game me material for a whole years work, believe it or not. Mr. Jeffords has a very paintable farm- very pretty-..." However, once Flannery returned to his studio in Maryland he became discouraged with his work and painted out every picture. The burden of a direct commission was too great for the artist and eventually he returned Jeffords' advance in full.

Once the money was returned, his artist's block lifted. In April of 1945, Flannery began in earnest to paint Faraway Farm. From his trunkful of original sketches that he took back from Kentucky, Flannery did not have just enough material for the next year, he in fact produced work from these sketches for nearly a decade. Throughout this time, Walter Jeffords, Sr. continued to buy pictures, the result of his original project.

We are grateful to Mr. Stiles Tuttle Colwill who provided the catalogue information for this lot and lot numbers 146-152 and 160-166. Mr. Colwill and Ms. Jane Webb Smith are currently working on a catalogue raisonné of the artist's work in co-operation with the artist's family.