Artworks - Jack Vettriano

As a self-taught artist who left school at the age of 16, Vettriano has become an inspirational figure to many. His figurative oil paintings represent a nostalgic commentary, often with an air of romance and sensuality that has an almost universal appeal. The dramatic situations between his figures; often create a story which is left for the viewer to finish. Born in Fife, Scotland in 1951, Vettriano's aspirations towards art came after his 21st birthday, when he was first given a set of watercolours, by a girlfriend. The following year, an equally enthusiastic reaction greeted the three paintings, which he entered for the prestigious Summer Exhibition at London's Royal Academy and his new life as an artist began from that point on. His best known painting, "The Singing Butler", which was originally rejected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, sold at Sotheby's in April 2004 for £744,500. In the same year, Vettriano was awarded an OBE for Services to the Visual Arts and was the subject of a South Bank Show documentary, entitled 'Jack Vettriano: The People's Painter'. Vettriano has been focusing on a variety of private projects, including the launch of a new book, and painting of a portrait of Zara Phillips as part of a charity fund-raising project for Sport Relief, the experience of which was captured in a documentary broadcast on BBC1 in March 2008. Over the last twenty years, interest in Vettriano's work has grown consistently. There have been sell-out solo exhibitions in Edinburgh, London, Hong Kong and New York and his work is collected by the likes of Jack Nicholson, Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Tim Rice and Robbie Coltrane. Vettriano divides his time between his homes in Fife, London and Nice.