A Scottish artist whose evocative works have captured the imaginations of art lovers worldwide, Jack Vettriano has died at the age of 73, his publicist has said. He was found dead at his apartment in Nice, in the south of France.
Vettriano, who was born Jack Hoggan on 17 November 1951 in Methil, Fife, was found on Saturday, his publicist said. It is understood there are no suspicious circumstances around his death.
Among his most famous works is The Singing Butler (1992), a romantic scene of a couple dancing on a beach with a butler and maid in attendance. The image has become synonymous with Vettriano’s style and is one of his most widely reproduced pieces, embodying themes of love, elegance, and nostalgia. On 21 April 2004 the original canvas of The Singing Butler sold at auction for £744,500. It had been rejected in 1992 by the Royal Academy summer exhibition. The composition for the painting, as discovered by Scottish designer Sandy Robb, had been sourced from the Illustrator’s Figure Reference Manual.
Vettriano’s easel paintings sold for between £48,000 and £195,000 new. According to The Guardian he earned £500,000 a year in print royalties.
Another well-known piece is Dance Me to the End of Love (1997), which shows a couple dancing intimately, bathed in a soft golden light. Inspired by Leonard Cohen’s song of the same name, this painting is often interpreted as a celebration of love and passion.
The Red Dress (1996) is another striking image, portraying a woman in a bold red gown standing confidently, her back to the viewer, while a man gazes at her from the shadows. The piece exudes mystery, romance, and sensuality, highlighting Vettriano’s ability to capture fleeting moments and emotional tension.
These works, along with others like The Last Supper and A Dangerous Liaison, showcase Vettriano’s talent for blending glamour, narrative, and emotion into unforgettable visual stories.
Known for his alluring, cinematic style, Vettriano’s paintings often evoke a sense of nostalgia, mystery, and romance. While his work has sparked both admiration and controversy, there’s no denying the profound impact he has had on contemporary art.
Romantic
Jack Vettriano was born in Fife, Scotland in 1951. After leaving school at 15, he followed his father down the mine, working as an apprentice engineer. He later moved on to white-collar jobs in management services. Vettriano took up painting as a hobby in the 1970s when a girlfriend bought him a set of watercolours for his birthday and from then on, he spent much of his spare time teaching himself to paint. He learned his craft by copying Old Masters, Impressionists, Surrealists and a plethora of Scottish artists.
Prior to moving from Kirkcaldy to Edinburgh, he decided to mark a break with his past work which hitherto had been sold under his family name Hoggan. From this time on, he adopted his mother’s maiden name. The turning point came in 1988 when he submitted two paintings to the Royal Scottish Academy’s Annual Exhibition; both were sold on the first day and Vettriano was approached by several galleries. He held his first solo exhibition at the Edinburgh Gallery in 1992 entitled ‘Tales of Love and Other Stories’ and later that year, he exhibited at the Mall Galleries in London.
He was represented by Portland Gallery from 1994-2007 and during this time, he had many sell-out solo exhibitions in Edinburgh, London, Hong Kong and New York and counts Jack Nicholson, Sir Alex Fergusson and Sir Tim Rice amongst his collectors.
In 1996, Pavilion books commissioned W. Gordon Smith to compile an anthology, ‘Fallen Angels’, in which over 40 Vettriano images were accompanied by a selection of Scottish writing. Poets, playwrights, novelists and actors were asked for a personal response to an individual painting or poem. In the same year, Sir Terrance Conran commissioned Vettriano to create a series of paintings for Conran’s Bluebird Club in London. The seven paintings inspired by the life of Sir Malcom Campbell hung there for ten years.
In 1998, Vettriano moved to London where he continued to have sell-out shows including, ‘Between Darkness and Dawn’, ‘Lovers and Other Strangers’ and ‘Affairs of the Heart’.
The year 2004 was exceptional in Vettriano’s career; his best-known painting, ‘The Singing Butler’ was sold at Sotheby’s for close to £750,000; he was awarded an OBE for Services to the Visual Arts and was the subject of a Southbank show documentary, entitled ‘Jack Vettriano: The People’s Painter’; Pavilion published a book ‘Lovers and Other Strangers’ being an anthology of his work to date with text by Anthony Quinn.
Experience
In 2008, Vettriano was commissioned to paint portraits of Sir Jackie Stewart and Zara Phillips, the latter was part of a charity fundraising project for Sport Relief, the experience of which was captured in a documentary broadcast on BBC One in March 2008.
Vettriano launched Heartbreak Publishing and his own gallery also called Heartbreak in 2009. In the same year, he was commissioned by the Yacht Club of Monaco to create a series of paintings to mark the centenary of their world-famous yacht Tuiga. The subsequent exhibition ‘A Hommage a Tuiga’ premiered in Monaco as part of Classic Yacht Week.
In 2010, an exhibition of over 40 new paintings, ‘Days of Wine and Roses’ was opened at the Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery in Fife. The exhibition then moved to London, opening at Heartbreak in September 2010.
In September 2013, a major exhibition, ‘Jack Vettriano: A Retrospective’ opened at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. It featured over 100 works and ran until February 23 2014. It attracted 123,300 visitors and broke the attendance records held by a Van Gogh exhibition in 1948.
Vettriano sold his gallery in London in 2015 and later that year established his own publishing company: Jack Vettriano Publishing Limited.
In 2017, He was one of three artists commissioned to paint portraits of Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. These were then put on display in Glasgow People’s Palace, while images were transferred to murals in the centre of Glasgow. It was the subject of a BBC documentary first broadcast on June 14, 2017.
Jack Vettriano: The Early Years Exhibition was held at Kirkcaldy Galleries in 2022. Among the works exhibited were very early paintings signed with the artist’s birth name Jack Hoggan.
Vettriano’s works are often characterised by their vivid colours, sharp contrasts, and nostalgic atmospheres. His paintings are imbued with a sense of romanticism, often drawing inspiration from the golden age of cinema, fashion, and music. Figures in his works are typically set in dramatic, glamorous, or intimate moments, capturing a fleeting narrative that invites the viewer to imagine what might happen next. His paintings, such as The Singing Butler and Dance Me to the End of Love, have become iconic representations of both longing and desire, creating a dialogue between the subjects and the observer.
A key aspect of Vettriano’s appeal lies in the cinematic quality of his art. His paintings often resemble stills from a film, with a narrative edge that leaves much to the imagination. This sense of mystery is accentuated by the choice of colour and lighting, which often casts shadows that create a sense of depth and intrigue. The figures in his works are frequently positioned in a way that encourages speculation about their relationships, emotions, and intentions.
Popularity
Despite his popularity, Vettriano’s work has not been universally embraced by the art world. Critics have often dismissed him as a commercial artist or branded his paintings as overly sentimental and lacking intellectual depth. Some argue that his works are too stylized or derivative of other artistic movements, while others question the emotive quality of his pieces. However, for many fans, it is precisely this emotive, accessible nature that makes his art so appealing. His works, often sold as prints, hang in homes, offices, and galleries around the world, enjoyed by those who appreciate the romantic escapism and dramatic elegance his paintings convey.
Vettriano’s success as a commercial artist has been significant, with his works commanding impressive prices at auction. The Singing Butler alone has been sold for several million pounds, a testament to his wide-reaching influence and the popularity of his work. Vettriano’s paintings have been exhibited in prestigious galleries and collections, including the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
Jack Vettriano’s works may not always be celebrated by the critics, but they resonate with a broad audience that appreciates his ability to capture the complexity of human emotion and relationships in a visually striking and emotionally charged way. His paintings stand as a testament to the power of art to transport us into another world, filled with passion, elegance, and a hint of nostalgia.
See also: Christie’s Arts Initiative for Great Ormond Street Hospital
