Jack Vettriano

Jack Vettriano OBE (born Jack Hoggan, 17 November 1951) is a Scottish painter. His 1992 painting The Singing Butler became a best-selling image in Britain. After leaving school at 15, he followed his father down the mine, working as an apprentice engineer. Self Taught artist Vettriano took up painting as a hobby in the 1970s. In 1988 he submitted two paintings to the Royal Scottish Academy’s Annual Exhibition; both were sold on the first day. The following year, an equally enthusiastic reaction greeted three paintings he entered for the prestigious Summer Exhibition at London’s Royal Academy, and thus began his new life as an artist. The year 2004 was exceptional in Vettriano’s career; his best-known painting, ‘The Singing Butler’ was sold at Sotheby’s for close to £750,000; he was awarded an OBE for Services to the Visual Arts and was the subject of a Southbank show documentary, entitled ‘Jack Vettriano: The People’s Painter. His works have been shown in many prestigious galleries and he has had numerous commission requests throughout his working life.