Jack Vettriano: Difference between revisions

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Jack Vettriano OBE born Jack Hoggan (born 17 November 1951), is a Scottish painter and publisher.

Jack Vettriano grew up in the industrial seaside town of Methil, Fife. He left school at 16 and later became an apprentice mining engineer. Vettriano did not take up painting as a hobby until the 1970s, when a girlfriend bought him a set of watercolours for his 21st birthday.^[1] His earliest paintings, under his birth name "Jack Hoggan", were copies or pastiches of impressionist paintings – his first painting was a copy of Monet's Poppy Fields.[1] Much of his influence came from studying paintings at the Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery in neighbouring Kirkcaldy. In 1984, Vettriano first submitted his work to the Shell-sponsored art exhibition in the museum.^[2] In 1987, he left his wife of eight years, Gail, and stepdaughter, and his job in educational research, and moved to Edinburgh. There, he adopted his mother's maiden name, gave away his suits to a neighbour and started dressing as an Edwardian dandy – "brogues, braces, long hair; the only thing missing was the cane." He applied to study Fine Art at the University of Edinburgh, but his portfolio was rejected.^[3]

In 1988 Vettriano submitted two canvases for the Royal Scottish Academy annual show. Both paintings sold on the first day and Vettriano was approached by several galleries who wanted to sell his other work.

Further successful exhibitions followed in Edinburgh, London, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, and New York. His paintings are reminiscent of the film noir genre, often with romantic or nude themes.

His easel paintings cost between $48,000 and $195,000 new^[4], but he is thought to make more money from the sale of reproductions. According to The Guardian, he earns £500,000 a year in print royalties {{citation}}: Empty citation (help). Each year a new set of limited edition prints are published, and his most popular work, The Singing Butler sells more posters and postcards than any other artist in the UK {{citation}}: Empty citation (help). On 21 April 2004 the original canvas of The Singing Butler sold at auction for £744,500 {{citation}}: Empty citation (help) — in 1992 it was rejected by the Royal Academy summer show. {{citation}}: Empty citation (help)

In November 1999, Vettriano’s work was shown for the first time in New York, when twenty-one paintings were displayed at The International 20th Century Arts Fair at The Armory. More than forty collectors from the UK flew out for the event and all twenty-one paintings were sold on the opening night to British collectors.

In 1996, Sir Terence Conran commissioned Vettriano to create a series of paintings for his new Bluebird Club in London. The seven paintings inspired by the life of Sir Malcolm Campbell hung in the Club for ten years. Heartbreak Publishing, Vettriano's own publishing company, is to produce a special Boxed Set featuring signed, limited edition prints of all seven paintings to mark the 75th anniversary of Sir Malcolm Campbell's final World Land Speed Record.

The Bluebird paintings were put up for sale at Sotheby's on 30 August 2007 and made more than £1m. The most expensive was Bluebird at Bonneville, bought for £468,000 at a Sotheby's auction held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire. This painting is considered the "most iconic" of the series.^{[citation needed]}

Vettriano has studios in Scotland and London. He was represented by the Portland Gallery, London from 1993 to 2007 and counts Jack Nicholson, Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Tim Rice and Robbie Coltrane amongst his collectors.^[1] To date, five books have been published about Jack Vettriano, the most recent of which is entitled 'Studio Life' and was published in March 2008.

In 2008 Vettriano painted a portrait of Zara Phillips MBE (horse rider and granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II) as part of a charity fund-raising project for Sport Relief 2008. The painting is entitled 'Olympia' and was auctioned later that year at a charity fund-raising auction {{citation}}: Empty citation (help). All proceeds from the charity auction went to Sport Relief, an initiative of Comic Relief charity. {{citation}}: Empty citation (help) This portrait project was featured in a BBC programme Sport Portraits shown on March 10, 2008. {{citation}}: Empty citation (help)

In February 2009, Vettriano launched his own publishing company, Heartbreak Publishing, which generates copyrighted, Vettriano-brand catalogues, greeting cards, and prints^[5], and his own London gallery also called Heartbreak which exclusively represents him^[6], and also seeks to “help promote edgy, younger artists” in an attempt to "start a fire".^[7]

In March 2010, 'Days Of Wine And Roses', was opened by First Minister, Alex Salmond, at the Kirkcaldy Museum in Fife, Scotland. It received more than 48,000 visitors during its five week run there. {{citation}}: Empty citation (help) The exhibition then transferred to his galley Heartbreak, in London.

On Wednesday 24 March 2010, Sir Jackie Stewart presented Vettriano with the Great Scot of the Year Award. The award ceremony was held at the Boisedale Club in London. {{citation}}: Empty citation (help) The award led MSP Ted Brocklebank to file a Motion in Parliament calling for Vettriano's contribution to Scottish culture to be recognised. {{citation}}: Empty citation (help)

In April 2010 Seven out of ten paintings by Vettriano failed to sell at Sotheby's spring auction of Scottish pictures. Those that sell sold for half their previous prices. The Scotsman suggested collectors who bought his paintings as investments could be seriously out of pocket if they put their purchases back on the open market. ^[8]

In December 2010, Vettriano was asked by First Minister, Alex Salmond to create his official Christmas card "Let's Twist Again" which was sold at auction for the benefit of four Scottish charities in February at The Old Course Hotel in St.Andrews with the First Minister attending. With the painting and Limited Edition sales combined, just under £100,000 was raised for four Scottish charities. {{citation}}: Empty citation (help)

In February 2011 it was announced that Vettriano's self-portrait, "The Weight" would be displayed at the re-opened Scottish National Portrait Gallery from November 2011.^[9] First Minister, Alex Salmond said: “I warmly welcome the announcement that "The Weight" by Jack Vettriano will go on display at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Jack truly deserves this honour. He is a wonderful artist of considerable talent and achievement and this is a magnificent tribute to the special place he holds in the hearts of people in Scotland.”^[10]

In May 2011, "The Ballroom Spy" opened at Vettriano's gallery Heartbreak - a new exhibition by Vettriano in collaboration with the photographer, Jeanette Jones.^[11] In July 2011, the exhibition transferred to the Royal West Academy of Arts in Bristol which was viewed as a controversial choice by many.^[12]

In January 2012, the luxury menswear brand, Stefano Ricci, launched their Spring Summer 2012 collection with a campaign inspired by the work of Jack Vettriano. Their SS 2012 catalogue, entitled 'Stefano Ricci - a tribute to Vettriano', features images by Vettriano and photographic re-interpretations shot by Fredi Marcarini and featuring clothes and accessories from the Ricci 2012 collection. A short film about the 2012 Vettriano campaign has been presented by Ricci to commemorate the collaboration.

In February 2012, Vettriano's most famous painting, "The Singing Butler", went on display at the Aberdeen City Art Gallery as part of an exhibition entitled, 'From Van Gogh to Vettriano'. Richard Demarco has written an analysis about "The Singing Butler" for The Scotsman.

According to The Daily Telegraph he has been described as the Jeffrey Archer of the art world, a purveyor of "badly conceived soft porn",^[13] and a painter of "dim erotica",^[14] According to Vanity Fair, critics say Jack Vettriano paints brainless erotica.^[15] Sandy Moffat, head of drawing and painting at Glasgow School of Art, said: "He can’t paint, he just colours in."^[16] The Guardian's art critic Jonathan Jones, described Vettriano’s paintings as a group as “brainless” and said Vettriano “is not even an artist.”^[17] Richard Calvocoressi, when director of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, said: "I’d be more than happy to say that we think him an indifferent painter and that he is very low down our list of priorities (whether or not we can afford his work, which at the moment we obviously can’t). His ‘popularity’ rests on cheap commercial reproductions of his paintings."^[18] In The Scotsman George Kerevan wrote "He suffers all the same criticisms of the early French Impressionists: mere wallpaper, too simplistic in execution and subject, too obviously erotic."^[19] Alice Jones wrote in The Independent that Vettriano has been labelled a chauvinist whose "women are sexual objects, frequently half naked and vulnerable, always in stockings and stilettoes."^[20] Regarding the criticism, sculptor David Mach has said: "If he was a fashion designer Jack would be right up there. It’s all just art world snobbery. Anyway, who cares, he probably makes more money than Damien Hirst anyway."^[21]

In October 2005, after the original of The Singing Butler sold for £740,000, research revealed that Vettriano had used the artists' reference manual The Illustrator's Figure Reference Manual to form his figures,^[22] using a then unknown pose by London based struggling Irish actress Orla Brady for the 'lady in red.'^[23] Vettriano is self-taught, and said he used such sources in his early years, as he did not have the financial resources to hire models.

Alongside fellow Fifer, author Ian Rankin, Vettriano put in a cameo appearance in a video with Scottish indie band Saint Jude's Infirmary made for BBC Scotland's 'The Music Show'. The video was filmed on Portobello Beach in Edinburgh and included visual references to two of Vettriano's most famous paintings, Elegy for a Dead Admiral and The Singing Butler.^[24] The lyrics of the track Goodbye Jack Vettriano were written by band member, Grant Campbell, while he was homesick, away in Rotterdam and on seeing a Vettriano print on a pub wall.

Vettriano became a fan of the band after hearing their first album, Happy Healthy Lucky Month, and was inspired by the lyrics of Goodbye Jack Vettriano to create a painting which featured as the cover of the band's second album, ^[24], for which both Vettriano and Rankin have contributed spoken word pieces.

In May 2008, Vettriano collaborated with Formula One legend, Sir Jackie Stewart, on a triptych of paintings entitled Tension, Timing, Triumph - Monaco 1971. The paintings were unveiled by HSH Prince Albert of Monaco at a private reception at the Hotel de Paris in Monaco on 21 May 2008. The paintings will hang in Sir Jackie's private collection in the UK and the images have been published as a limited edition print, which both men have signed.

Following on from the previous year's event in Monaco, Vettriano was invited to create a series of paintings to celebrate the centenary of Tuiga, the Yacht Club of Monaco's flagship yacht. The paintings were first shown in an exhibition, Hommage à Tuiga, in Monaco but will be available to a much wider audience when they are shown as part of a touring exhibition that opens at the Kirkcaldy Museum in Fife in March 2010.

Vettriano worked with the Italian photographer, Fredi Marcarini, on a series of photographs for the Homage A Tuiga exhibition. The two artists had met in Milan in November 2008, when Vettriano was invited by the Swan Group as guest of honour to their Gala Dinner to celebrate the launch of their new magazine, in part inspired by the women in Vettriano's paintings. Vettriano was interviewed for the Swan Group's 'Monsieur Magazine', for which Marcarini took a series of photographs of Vettriano in his London studio. The two artists styled a tripytch of portrait shots, which have been subsequently released as a special edition by Heartbreak Publishing.

In May 2011, Vettriano embraced his love for Ballroom Dancing and collaborated on the exhibition "The Ballroom Spy" with the photographer Jeanette Jones. Vettriano had been a fan of Jones work for sometime and welcomed the opportunity to create new work on the dancing theme. His publishing company, Heartbreak Publishing released a brand new Limited Edition, "Anniversary Waltz" for the exhibition.

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In January 2008 Vettriano donated a painting,Study for Bluebird at Bonneville, to a charity auction at the London Art Fair to raise funds for the Terrence Higgins Trust.^[25] The painting, which was one of the studies for the iconic painting Bluebird at Bonneville, was sold for £32,000 and was the highest achieving lot of the night.

In 2004 Vettriano set up a scholarship for St Andrew's University to fund a student who would not be able to attend university otherwise. The scholarship is awarded every four years, the first recipient of which began their studies in September 2004. The endowment follows his financial contribution towards refurbishing the Students Association's Old Union Coffee Bar in 2002 and his involvement in student fashion shows. He was made a Doctor of Letters by the university.^[26]

In September 2001, Vettriano donated a painting, Beautiful Dreamer to a charity auction, which was held at Sotheby’s in aid of Help the Hospices.^[27] In 2008, a rare drawing he made of that subject sold for £22,000 at a charity auction in aid of the Oriel Plas Glyn-y-Weddw Gallery in North Wales in July, helping to keep the gallery going.^[28]

Jack Vettriano donated a portrait he painted of Zara Phillips MBE (horse rider and granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II) to Sport Relief 2008. The painting, entitled Olympia went to a charity fund-raising auction along with works by Sir Peter Blake, illustrator Gerald Scarfe and Stella Vine. The portraits project was featured in a BBC programme Sport Portraits shown on March 10, 2008. The painting was sold at Bonhams for £36,000.[2]

In March 2009 Vettriano donated a self portrait, 'The Weight (study)', to the Lighthouse Gala Auction in aid of the Terrence Higgins Trust. The painting, which was inspired by a photograph taken by Fredi Marcarini at Vettriano's London home, was sold for £21,000 on the night.

Anne Magill and Jack Vettriano both donated paintings to this year's Terrence Higgins Trust Lighthouse Gala auction, which took place at Christies' on Monday 22 March 2010. Vettriano's painting, entitled 'Queen of Diamonds II', is the study for a larger painting which is to feature in Vettriano's forthcoming exhibition. The painting was sold for £26,000. Magill's painting, entitled 'Still', sold for £8,000 and is one of a series of studies of performers preparing to go on stage which will feature in Magill's forthcoming exhibition, which is to open at a major new gallery space in London later this year. Anne Magill is now represented by Heartbreak Publishing.

Last summer, The Elephant Parade took over London, with a full herd gathered on Wednesday 1 July for a special gala event and auction. Vettriano's elephant, 'The Singing Butler Rides Again', was the highest bid for Lot of the night,selling to a phone bidder for £155,000. The auction itself raised over GBP £4 million.

British Airways asked if Vettriano would create a postcard as part of their campaign for Sports Relief. The postcard "Wish You Were Here" raised over £2000 for the charity.

In March 2011, Vettriano donated a painting for the Lighthouse Gala Auction in aid of the Terrence Higgins Trust. Vettriano’s painting, entitled, Sunshine and Champagne II, is the study for a larger painting of the same title that featured in Vettriano’s Homage a Tuiga series of works, created to mark the centenary of the Yacht Club of Monaco’s world-famous yacht, Tuiga. The painting raised £29,000 on the night.

There are numerous books that have been published on Vettriano and his work. They include:

Fallen Angels Published by Pavilion Books, October 1999 (ISBN 978-1-86205-364-9)

Lovers and Other Strangers Text by Anthony Quinn Published by Pavilion Books on 30 October 2003 (ISBN 978-1-86205-630-5)

Jack Vettriano: A Life Text by Anthony Quinn Published by Pavilion Books on 25 October 2004 (ISBN 978-1-86205-646-6)

A reduced format of Jack Vettriano: A Life was published in 2007.

Studio Life Foreword by Ian Rankin Photographs by Jillian Edelstein Text by Tom Rawstorne Published by Pavilion Books on 28 March 2008 (ISBN 978-1-86205-743-2)

Women In Love Foreword by Jack Vettriano

A Man's World Foreword by Jack Vettriano

He grew up very poor in Methil, Fife, with his mother and father and older brother, in a small spartan miner’s cottage. He had to share a bed with his brother and wore handed down clothes. From the age of 10, his father sent him out delivering papers and milk, cleaning windows, picking potatoes any job that could earn money. His father took half his earnings.^[29] At 36, he left his wife of eight years, Gail, and stepdaughter, and moved to Edinburgh. There, he adopted his mother's maiden name, gave away his suits to a neighbour and started dressing as an Edwardian dandy – "brogues, braces, long hair; the only thing missing was the cane."^[30] Divorced from his first wife, Vettriano divides his time between homes in London, Kirkcaldy and Nice, France. In 2004 he was awarded the OBE. He has claimed inspiration for his paintings in "25 years of sexual misbehaviour".^[31] In 2010 he told The Independent "I live in a world of heartbreak... I just seem to be more creative when I'm in some kind of emotional distress.", and said "It's been four years of soul-searching – nicotine, alcohol, anti-depressants, temazepam," ^[32]. In 2010 he said about relationships "Whenever someone stays for longer than two days, I get cabin fever" and that he loves shoe shopping with women.^[33] He likes to gamble on the horses, but only bets what he can afford to lose.^[34] He has set up the Vettriano Trust, and plans to leave his money to it to do good work. ^[35] He is a fan of the singer Rebecca Poole.^[36]

In February 2012 Vettriano admitted drug possession and driving at twice the legal alcohol limit at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court He was banned from driving for 18 months and fined £600 for the driving offence and £200 for class B drug possession.^[37] Vettriano was stopped in Kirkcaldy on January 8 following anonymous reports of erratic driving. He smelt of drink and was slurring his words.^[38] He told the officer "'You know who I am. We can sort this out."^[39][40] When he was searched at a police station, after failing a breath test, a gram of speed with a street value of £30 was found "by his ankle"^[41]. Vettriano claimed that the amphetamine was cocaine.^[42] It was his first offence, and his solicitor, John Gilbertson, said: “He could have walked and should have walked. Instead, he decided to take the car. It was a bad decision and a foolish decision. He has asked me to apologise to the court for that.”^[43]

• Reid, Melanie (2007-08-29). "Because I'm worth it". London: The Times. Retrieved 2007-09-08.
• Gordon Smith, W (October 1994). "Fallen Angels". Pavilion Books.
• Quinn, Anthony (June 2000). "Lovers and Other Strangers". Pavilion Books.
• Quinn, Anthony (October 2004). "Jack Vettriano: A Life". Pavilion Books.

• [3]
• [4]
• [5]
• [6]
• [7]
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• Jack Vettriano's official website
• Jack Vettriano's Official Publishing Website
• Jack Vettriano's new gallery

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