Jack Vettriano’s images are a gateway to an alluring yet sinister world; a timeless place where past and present intertwine. It is a world heavy on atmosphere evoking the great noir movies and novels of our time; the drama of men and women is played out in each canvas against a backdrop of bars and clubs, seaside and racetracks, ballrooms and bedrooms. Vettriano sets the scene and invites the viewer to develop the narrative.

Born in Fife in 1951, Jack Vettriano has emerged from the unlikely background of an early working life in the Scottish coal-fields to become one of Britain’s best known contemporary artists; he is entirely self taught. His work first came to public prominence at the Royal Scottish Academy open exhibition in 1988. Since then there have been sell out exhibitions in Edinburgh, London, Hong Kong, Johannesburg and New York.

In less than twenty years, the average price of his paintings has risen from a few hundred to tens of thousands of pounds. The demand for Vettriano’s work is reflected in the successive record breaking prices that his paintings have achieved at auction in the last few years. In April 2004 The Singing Butler, the artist’s most iconic image, sold for £740,000 at Sotheby’s, a record breaking price for a painting by a Scottish artist.

Aside from his exhibitions, Vettriano has acquired a vast following through the licensing and distribution of his images. To date, more than 3 million posters and cards featuring Vettriano’s paintings have sold worldwide.

In June 2003, Vettriano received an OBE for Services to the Visual Arts despite being a controversial figure within the art establishment – the only example of his work to be featured in a public collection is a painting donated by a collector to the Kirkcaldy Museum & Art Gallery in Fife.

Jack Vettriano has studios in Scotland and in London. He is represented exclusively by Portland Gallery. There will be a major exhibition of new paintings by Jack Vettriano at Portland Gallery in London in 2006.