~~~~ JACK VETTRIANO~~~
Elegant, erotic, alluring, thought provoking… the list to describe Vettriano’s work is endless.
I have been a fan of Jack Vettriano’s style for some years and have two of his prints in my lounge as well as a smaller more sensual print in my bedroom. Many will recognize his famous ‘The Singing Butler’ piece that dresses the cover of this book and possibly his painting ‘Dance Me to the End of Love’ which sits quietly on the spine of the book.
~~~ The Book and where to buy ~~~
The copy I have can be found on Amazon starting at £17 or from The Book Depository from £9.50. I was lucky enough to buy mine from a book sale for a £1, which was in my opinion the best buy of the month.
As I mentioned earlier the front cover shows Vettriano’s Singing Butler with Jack’s name in large white print across the top. Simple yet effective. This style is repeated on the spine with a small snippet of his Dance me to the end of Love underneath. The back cover shows a painting of Jack looking at his own work of the Singing Butler with paint brushes in hand. This piece is the introduction painting for his chapter ‘The Passions and the Pain’ which cover 1994 to 1996.
~~Inside front & back covers~~
We are given a very basic introduction to Jack’s background and how he describes his painting – quote “as akin to pulp fiction novel covers and railway posters of the 1950’s”.
The information is a little brief but gives enough to interest and intrigue the reader into wanting to discover more about this talented artist.
~~~Why this book? ~~~
There are several other books covering Vettriano’s works but I particularly wanted this edition because of the accompanying text by Anthony Quinn (writer and critic not the actor!) and the chapter titled ‘Lover’s and other Strangers’ which covers Jack’s pieces produced over a 3 year period from 1997. This period of Vettriano’s life was the beginning of his time in London, after moving from Edinburgh, and his work shows several emotions that reflect the events of his life at the time.
I will cover this further in my review and talk in more depth about several pieces within this chapter.
Anthony Quinn is author of two historical fiction novels - The Rescue Man (2009) and Half the Human Race (2011) - he is also a highly acclaimed film and book critic for The Independent, Daily Telegraph, Mail on Sunday & The New York Times. Quinn also work as Arts Editor for Harpers & Queens - in my opinion this talented writer combined with my favourite artist would be a recipe for a fiery book.
~~~The Book itself~~~
The book is divided into five main chapters:- Introduction, 1987-1993 Tales of Love and Other Stories, 1994-1996 The Passion and the Pain, 1997-2000 Lovers and Other Strangers and2001-2004 Affairs of the Heart. There follows 2 indexes the first listing Exhibitions and Paintings and finally and index of the paintings included within the book.
Each chapter begins with the title in bold, red print and the dates of the period cover in white underneath set on the left hand side page with an accompanying painting of Jack himself.
The dark brown colour of these chapter starts give, in my opinion, an ‘old master’ feel to the pages.
Before the introduction there are two very different styles of work – the first, set in a white border shows the beach scene ‘The Picnic Party’ and is a light hearted picture of two women in summer dresses walking barefoot across a beach with a man following whilst holding a parasol over the second woman, protecting her from the sun as she carries a picnic hamper. A real feel good factor can be drawn from this painting. However, as we turn to the next page the mood changes to a dark, seductive painting of a man and woman facing each other on the verge of a kiss. The man holding a lit cigarette in his left hand, positioned on his hip, has the woman’s chin between his thumb and fingers and gives the impression he is pulling her slightly towards him. His appearance is almost ‘gangster like’. The dark haired woman is sliding off her coat dress to reveal a simple black bra and top of her black pants. Her white pearl ear ring stands out from the dark tones and compliments his stark white shirt.
On the opposite page against a dark page the book’s title and master’s name stands bold in silver with the words Text by Anthony Quinn underneath – so our journey through the book begins.
~~~~ The contents of the Book ~~~
*** Introduction***
The introduction begins with information about the artist’s most recognizable image – The Singing Butler – there is a smaller image of the one from the back cover.
Throughout this chapter the format remains the same. Text begins a third of the way down the page, which is set on a white background, with smaller images of the artist work that is being discussed by Quinn in the text.
Quinn’s words reflect on, not only the visual facts of the paintings but often make suggestions about the characters within the works. He gives a detailed account of events in the author’s life and the influences these have had on the Scot.
I was intrigued to learn of the staggering prices that some of Vettriano’s paintings fetched at auction. The Singing Butler sold for an amount that hit nearly £800,000 – the buyer’s identify remains unknown but Sotheby did reveal it was a UK-based collector of Scottish art.
As Jack’s life unfolds through Quinn’s words we discover how Vettriano (a Scotsman of Italian descent) began on his incredible voyage as a self-taught artist from the Fife coalfields to his Portland Gallery status he now holds.
From personal life experiences to professional encounters Vettriano’s career has rocketed to earn him the title of The People’s Painter.
I was impressed with the style of Quinn’s writing whilst discussing Vettriano’s inspiration for Queen of the Fan-Dan. Quinn’s text holds as much imagination and description as one of Jack’s paintings and this I believe makes this book a winning combination of talents.
***Tales of Love and Other Stories***
1987-1993
Quinn introduces this chapter with a powerful phrase referring to the impact of Vettriano’s selling of two of his paintings at the Royal Scottish Academy’s summer exhibition in 1988, quote “it unlocked a demon of creativity”.
Although standing only this phrase may not seem powerful but when you look at the images chosen within this section of the book, the word ‘demon’ lingers within the characters and atmosphere of the paintings.
The first 11 paintings of this chapter have a seductive and dark mood about them. From the alluring ‘Strangers in the Night’ to the powerful ‘A Test of True Love’ the men hold an authoritive and commanding status on the canvas. They stand out as having control and composure over the women accompanying them. This is very subtly achieved in the ‘Queen of the Fan Dan’ piece where a woman dressed in a red jacket holds a lit candelabra (that reminded me of the devil’s fork) is flanked by a man whose face is slightly hidden by her hair, his presence however, is formidable.
The following 4 pages take us to the beach, however the powerful and thought provoking atmosphere captured does lead us to believe this could just be a family jolly. One of my favourite paintings here is ‘A Very Dangerous Beach’ – a whole story could be written about this piece that could take many twists and turns.
The Singing Butler moves us (over the next few pages) into the mood of elegance and romance with the painting’s subject adorning evening dress and waltzes. Vettriano’s style is as striking as ever and this book shows the rich colours and tension extremely well through its high quality printing.
The last two pages of this chapter take us to Vettriano’s darker vision with 2 striking and disquieting pieces –‘ Setting New Standards’ and ‘ The Administration of Justice’. I won’t say too much about these paintings as I feel you need to go and find them and make your own judgment about the scenes. What I would say is – ask yourself is the woman a willing participate or innocent victim?
***The Passion and the Pain***
1994-1996
Quinn tells of introduction of the Portland Gallery to Vettriano’s life at the beginning of this chapter. I enjoyed the references to films made by him in this section of the book as it did confirm ideas I had about several of the paintings within this section.
When you look at the painting The Billy Boys what film are you reminded of?
This is the largest chapter of the 5 main ones. It takes us on a tour of a mixture of Vettriano’s dark / sinister styles and lighter optimistic moods.
The colours and tones bring to life the story that each painting tells and again the quality of print within the book is very clear and excellent which doesn’t distort the images in any way.
One of my favourite paintings in this section is ‘Cold Cold Heart’ because in my opinion I think the male character is Jack Vettriano.
Several of the following paintings show seductive scenes that offer the viewer choices of how they would like the story within it to go. The book captures these narratives very well and holds them in several ways (a border of white enhances a heavenly choice in ‘Heaven or Hell’ whereas a full page shot of ‘The Voyeur’ reflects the arrival / departure of a visitor).
I really do like the varying styles of how each painting is displayed in this book. Each image has been carefully presented to enhance Vettriano’s mood and tones. The size of each piece also reflects an aspect of the subject within the painting.
The painting ‘The Party’s Over’ takes over not just one whole page but creeps onto the next – this powerful scene of lust is accompanied by a direct quote from Vettriano. I quote “I just happen to think it’s pretty fundatmental, everybody everywhere is driven by the urge to do it. It is a powerful force and only the strong and happy are able to resist it.”
When you look at the above scene you will understand why the painting and quote go so well together.
This chapter moves into the lighter more optimistic mood of ‘Lazy Hazy Days’ and scenes from days at the races. Each image is again well displayed to enhance an aspect of the view. The final pages show a surreal scene of the ‘Bluebird at Bonneville’ which dominates both pages in a way that the Bluebird car dominates the subject of speed car history.***Lovers and Other Strangers***
1997-2000
This is my favourite chapter and one of the reasons I grabbed this book from the table.
The portrait of Jack Vettriano opposite the chapter’s title page, shows him in a thoughtful pose with cigarette in mouth and glasses in right hand as he stands, dressed black, gazing towards what could possibly be a window. I really like this painting of him as it gives the impression that he is on the brink of making an important life-changing decision. A clue to the information that is about to follow.
As I had previously touched on at the beginning of this review, this chapter tells us of Vettriano’s move to London and events in his life that had a direct impact on his work. Quinn touches sensitively and creatively on how our artist coped with allegations and depression. We learn more of what makes this artist ‘tick’ and how he tries to continually develop and experiment with his talents. For example Quinn writes a direct quote from Jack concerning his painting of the beach scenes – quote “not because I was feeling nice but because I wanted to get a particular effect with reflections”.
The injection of quotes into Quinn’s views and opinions are extremely well chosen and reflects the quality of this book.
Throughout this chapter we flick between light moods with a touch of mystery, found in ‘Mr Cool’ and ‘The Man in the Navy Suit’ to seductive images of an agreed passion displayed in ‘Private Dancer’ and ‘Game On’.
Again these images are presented in ways that catch effects and small details within the visual narrative.
We are also treated to another self portrait of Vettriano which is positioned directly opposite ‘Silhouette’. I love the way these two paintings have been place in the book – it gives you the impression that Jack is sitting in the same room as the woman who is standing on the balcony.
This chapter also shows a rare scene from Vettriano’s brush. ‘Under Cover of the Night’ reveals a naked man lying on a bed with a covered woman – although you can see she is only wearing a suspender belt she is covered by a sheet.
The man is on full display which has been the only image of male nudity I have seen him produce. I was surprised when I first saw this as Vettriano’s men are always in a position of power.
***Affairs of the Heart***
2001-2004
The final chapter reveals which music has influenced our artist. We are given an insight into the passions and feelings various musical artists have had on specific works and images Jack has produced.
Quinn leaves us with information about Jack’s material properties in London and Scotland but also a hard-hitting quote from the artist about his character and how he treats the people around him.
This, I believe, gives you a deeper understanding of this interesting and extremely talented man.
We can also see from the paintings in this section of the book, that Jack Vettriano moves between his dark moods to his lighter mood but is able to keep the balance even – it’s to me as well balanced as the ying yang of life.
We are treated to a painting of the artist talking to his model followed by several portraits of the model fully clothed and looking stunning. The series of paintings that take us through this chapter almost tell a story of betrayal.However, I was suddenly hit by a quote from Vettriano that really surprised me. He says “in this game of love, women have immense power…much more power that we (men) do. The aim is to show the way they can really tie us up in knots. We‘re animals in comparison.
It gave me food for thought and I must admit went back to the being of the book and look again at his portrayal of his characters’
***Indexes***
The index of Exhibitions and paintings is the first of two indexes and gives good clear information about which painting was exhibited where and in what year.
The last index gives you an alphabetical running order of the paintings that are included in this book and its page number / s.
~~~Conclusion~~~
This is one of my favourite books – not just because Jack Vettriano is my favourite artist but because of the quality in its publishing and presentation of information.
Quinn has chosen his words carefully and this in turn has reflected the creativity and passion of both himself and his subject – Vettriano.
I often look back through the pages of these masterpieces and each time I find a new aspect or item that sets the imagination on a different path.
A truly inspiring book that I would recommend to all.
Thanks for reading
X hev
Seductive, erotic and thought provoking 
Top Quality Review