Jack Vettriano remembered
Jack Vettriano - Self-portrait
IRREVERENT, charming, unique, talented, did not give a damn... a few words to describe the late great Jack Vettriano.
An amazing character, I got to know him after interviewing him for various newspapers, including the FT, the Mail and the Sunday Times.
His story is quite incredible. Left school at 15, son of a miner, becomes a self made artist – sells one of his paintings The Singing Butler for three quarters of a million – although he did tell me afterwards that all he made of that was around £100,000! Who knows, but I don’t think he was painting just for the money – is anyone?
I first met Jack at a press launch in Aberdeen. He had a queue of women of a certain age, waiting in the wings to meet him. Eagerly tousling their hair and puffing their jackets before going up in the lift to have a few moments with the man himself.
He had a certain charisma, he seemed shy but also confident on the surface. There was something a little edgy about him, there seemed a bit of a dark side.
After this first meeting I interviewed him for The Independent in his Knightsbridge apartment. He seemed very reasonable and easy going and he had many beautiful paintings there that looked like he had been working on them that day.
We had often planned to meet again after that, but nothing ever came of it. He once invited me to lunch at San Lorenzo, but he backed out at the last moment worried that the lighting would be too severe on his face in the middle of the day!
He also invited me to a Rod Stewart concert in London – but that never happened either – although it was so nice to be invited!
Fiercely productive, one of his finest hours was his retrospective at the Kelvingrove in Glasgow in 2013. That show pulled in more than 136,000 visitors during its five-month run and was said to be the most successful commercial exhibition ever staged in Glasgow.
A further retrospective in Kirkcaldy in 2022, which focused on his formative years, again attracted record crowds. He had moved to live on the Riviera, a place he loved, for the light, the cars and the beautiful women, he said. It was there, at his apartment in Antibes, that he was last seen, and where he died aged 73.
He was always, I felt, challenged by self doubt, and, like many artists and independents, by his own talents too.
He was refreshingly honest and could talk for hours. I remember the last phone interview I did with him, a couple of years ago. It must have gone on for over an hour. He was so easy to talk to and able to share so much.
I loved his views on social media – completely against it – and how he just seemed so anti-establishment, but what a legacy he has now left.
All those beautiful paintings, such bright colours such animated themes and never afraid to be himself: that’s what I loved most about him. His courage, his honesty and his confidence.
Long live Jack Vettriano! I am sure there will never be another like him, but many have been inspired by his great talent and his humble beginnings. And he managed to conquer a bit of the art world in the end too.
TESSA WILLIAMS
