Jack Vettrianowas born in St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland in 1951. He is the grandson of Peter Vettriano who came to the shores of Scotland from Italy in 1906. Jack Vettrianohas had a meteoric rise to fame from his humble beginnings as a mining engineer in the coalfields of Fife to become one of the most well known Scottish artists of our time. When Jack Vettriano's most famous painting
"The Singing Butler" came up for auction in May of 2004 at Sotheby's Edinburgh sale it shattered records and recognised...
Jack Vettrianoas one of the greatest artists of our time.
< At a phenomenal price of £750,000
"The Singing Butler" not only broke the record for the highest amount ever paid for a Jack Vettrianooriginal painting but also smashed the record for the highest bid ever made for a painting at a Scottish auction, the previous record being for just over 500,000 for a Herring painting.
An astonishing achievement given that the original selling price for "The Singing Butler" when it was first sold in 1991 was a mere £3,000. Even more amazing, at this time the painting was turned down by the Royal Academy of London and the Art Establishment, who deemed the painting not good enough to show!
What makes Jack Vettriano's achievements all the more impressive is the fact that he is an entirely self taught artist. He experimented with drawing in his teenage years but was first encouraged to paint when a girlfriend bought him a set of paints at the age of twenty one. After this he spent the next 14 years teaching himself to paint, gaining inspiration from his local town of Kirkcaldy and in particular the local art gallery, The Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery, which houses an impressive collection of 19th and 20th century art.
The turning point in Jack Vettriano's career came in 1989 when he decided to exhibit two of his paintings at the Royal Scottish Academy's annual exhibition in Edinburgh. Both paintings were sold on the first day of the Exhibition and marked the beginning of Jack Vettriano's new career as a full time artist. Since this time Jack Vettriano's career has gone from strength to strength and interest and desire in his work have grown rapidly and dramatically. He has had a number of sell out Exhibitions in Edinburgh, London, Hong Kong and Johannesburg. In November 1999, Vettriano's work was shown for the first time in New York, when twenty paintings were displayed at The Fifth Armory, Park Lane. Fifty collectors from the UK flew out for the opening night of the Fair and all twenty paintings were sold out within an hour of the opening.
We were fortunate enough to witness this amazing level of interest first hand
at the show in New York and buy the last painting on sale!
Jack Vettrianoand his work have truly become a phenomena and there has been a huge media interest in his life and work. In March 2000 BBC Scotland produced a documentary about Vettriano for their Arts series EX-S and more recently in March of 2004 The South Bank Show devoted a whole one hour programme to Jack Vettriano. The programme included a full interview with Melvyn Bragg and Jack Vettrianoand discussion and reaction from fans and collectors of Vettriano's work. Jack Vettrianohas also appeared on the BBC's desert islands discs radio programme with Sue Lawley, as well as a number of TV breakfast and news programmes.
In addition to the record breaking painting sales Jack Vettrianohas also received personal recognition through the Queen's honours list. In September 2003 Jack Vettrianoreceived an OBE for his services to the artworld and on behalf of his charitable work.
He has also received an honorary degree from the University of St. Andrews.
