Scottish painter Jack Vettriano, known for his cinematic and often erotically charged oil paintings, has died at 73. He was found dead at his home in Nice, France, and his death was confirmed on his official Instagram account on March 3rd.
“He was not only an extraordinary artist but also a deeply private and humble man who was endlessly grateful for the support and admiration of those who loved his work,” the post read. “His paintings—capturing moments of intrigue, romance, and nostalgia—touched the hearts of so many around the world, and his legacy will live on through them.”
Vettriano, born Jack Hoggan in 1951 in Methil, Scotland, dropped out of school at 15 to become a mining engineer. His artistic journey began in the 1970s after he received a box of watercolor paints from his girlfriend. Initially, Vettriano learned to paint by copying the works of the Old Masters, Impressionists, and Surrealists, drawing particular inspiration from the works housed at the Kirkcaldy Galleries in Fife, Scotland. He admired paintings by fellow Scottish artists such as Samuel Peploe and William McTaggart.
The artist’s breakthrough occurred in 1988, when the two canvases he submitted to the Royal Scottish Academy show sold on the exhibition’s first day. Vettriano’s figurative scenes—often of beachside leisure, couples kissing, or women lounging—achieved enormous commercial popularity during his lifetime. However, throughout his career, he received harsh backlash from critics who deemed his work derivative.
Vettriano’s most famous painting is The Singing Butler (1992), which depicts a couple dancing on a beach in formal attire, while a maid and a butler stand nearby holding umbrellas. In 2004, the original work sold for £744,800 ($1.19 million) at Sotheby’s—at the time, a record price for a Scottish artist—after selling privately in 1991 for £3,000 ($5,310). A proliferation of prints of the painting made it one of the most popular images in the United Kingdom.
The Singing Butler’s influence extends to Banksy, who adapted the work for Crude Oil (Vettriano) (2005). This environmentally-charged adaptation, which features two men in Hazmat suits carrying what appears to be an oil barrel along the beach, is scheduled to be auctioned at Sotheby’s in London on March 4th with a high estimate of £5 million ($6.3 million).
From 1994 to 2007, Vettriano was represented by London’s Portland Gallery. He received an Order of the British Empire in 2003. The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow mounted Vettriano’s first retrospective in 2013. Kirkcaldy Galleries staged another retrospective in 2022, focusing on his early works.
