Jack Vettriano is one of those artists whose work you instantly recognise. He produces paintings that seem to have been around forever. Yet he has only been painting for just under 20 years.
His work is recognisable for many reasons. He has tapped into the mass-marketing money-spinning poster trade, making £15 million a year from sales of reproductions. So it is more than likely that you have seen his work on a wall or a biscuit tin somewhere.
Then there’s his similarity to Edward Hopper in his contrasty colouring, his ‘snapshot’ style and the feeling that you are watching an intensely private moment. Also firing at your recognition sensors are the subjects that Degas, Monet and Renoir made constant use of: ballerinas preparing to go on stage, the middle classes enjoying their leisure time on beaches and lakesides, smoky bars and clubs with clandestine meetings possible at every turn. There’s a bit of Vermeer, too, in the lighting and mood of a woman by a window, subdued and serene in her stillness.
