Jack Vettriano: From Fife mines to worldwide fame
The artist died in France at the age of 73 on Saturday.
It was on Jack Vettriano’s 21st birthday that apprentice mining engineer’s life changed forever.
His then girlfriend gifted him a set of watercolours which would lead the Fife native to exhibitions across the world.
Having left school at 15, Vettriano – born Jack Hoggan on November 17 1951 – went on to become one of the most popular artists of his time, and one of Scotland’s most notable.
The self-taught artist spent his spare time mastering the craft which would make him a household name, drawing inspiration from the displays at the Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery.
But it was not until 1988 when he made his breakthrough, submitting two pieces to the Royal Scottish Academy’s annual exhibition, with both selling on the first day.
By 1992 his first solo exhibition went on display at the Edinburgh Gallery and in the same year he produced his most vaunted piece, The Singing Butler, which proposes a couple dancing on a windswept and rainy beach as their butler and maid hold umbrellas nearby. In a 2017 poll, the painting was voted the third most popular in the UK.
He would go on to hold exhibitions across the world, including in London, Hong Kong and New York, with a 2013 retrospective held at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow.
Over five months, more than 135,000 people would attend the exhibition – the most successful in the gallery’s history.
He was also among the artistic luminaries to produce portraits of comedian Sir Billy Connolly to be displayed around his native Glasgow, with Vettriano’s Dr Connolly, I Presume? being recreated as a mural overlooking a pub beer garden in the city just yards from the River Clyde.
Despite undeniable commercial and mainstream success, Vettriano never enjoyed a good relationship with art critics, with some describing his work as “brainless” and “dim erotica”.
But in an interview with the Radio Times, the Fife-born artist hit back, saying: “They don’t like an artist who is as popular as me because it takes away part of their authority. If they want to ignore me, let them.
“I have what I want and that is the support of the public and that means far more to me than the approval of a bunch of well-educated art buffs.”
He also urged an unnamed curator who rejected The Singing Butler from the Royal Academy’s summer exhibition to “go and live in a cave somewhere”.
Among those who own Vettriano’s work are Hollywood actor Jack Nicholson and football legend Sir Alex Ferguson.
