Exploring the work of one of the world’s most
famous contemporary painters at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
I was in a shopping centre not so long ago wandering about
listlessly as I often tend to do.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, an image caught my eye. I paused, looked back and stared. The scene (a painting, in the midst of a
gallery) presented a couple dancing, a gentleman in a dinner suit and a lady in
a red dress, on a beach. There are two
people at either side who appear to be a butler and maid. The background is dominated by a murky blue
overcast sky, beginning to break at the top in white puffs of cloud. This is contrasted with the golden beach:
shinning in a glaze of water from a recent tide. The sea, a blue strip, somewhere on the
horizon.
It’s a painting of
detail. Detail which culminates in a
captivating story. I want to know who
this couple are and why they’re on a beach in such formal attire. Maybe they’ve left the party seeking an
intimate moment to themselves. The
butler and the maid are at their sides: both with umbrellas high in the air – I
feel their frustration. I also feel the
wind on my back every time I look at the maid clutch on to her hat with her
other hand to stop it blowing away. They
try to look as resolute as they can under the circumstances – they’ve been put
there for a reason. The couple need
shelter. Indeed, they seem completely unfazed
as they waltz on the sands. The
foreboding, blustery setting is imperceptible against their elegance. I could depict more of the detail: the lady
has no shoes on; we can’t see any of the figures’ faces. But realistically, upon first glance, you see
the poise of the dancing couple; you feel their passion, their desire to
love. It’s romantic – and it’s worth
nearly one million pounds.
I walked by the
gallery in the shopping centre several times to glimpse at the painting. I went home but I couldn’t get the image out
of my head. I was left almost in agony
because I had no clue as to the name of the painting or even the name of the
artist. Time passes. Often when I feel moved or sentimental I’m
reminded of the blissful couple. Eventually,
I meet them again. This time on the cover
of a lavish hard-back book with the words “Jack Vettriano” printed on the
front.
Putting the
pieces together now and my new-found love of art is taking shape. So in true dilettante style I take to the
internet to find out more.
What follows is a
celebratory air punch when I discover Jack Vettriano is Scottish – he’s from St
Andrews. His career as an artist is
almost a fluke. Vettriano’s girlfriend
got him a set of water colour paints for his 21st birthday. Since then he’s been busy. In 1989 Vettriano sold one if his paintings
for £180 and gave up his career as a mining engineer to paint full time. As I’m looking round his Retrospective exhibition at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum I wonder which one it is. When over 100 paintings from the same artist are showcased together it’s easy to see common themes. Most paintings portray a lifestyle of glamour, money and hedonism. There is often a feel of classic Hollywood and many paintings are inspired by the Riviera.
One such painting
that evokes the Hollywood era is “Bluebird at Bonneville” (pictured left). The painting is of the famous car Bluebird
which was driven by Sir Malcolm Campbell in 1935 when he broke the world record
for speed on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.
This painting uses two colours: white and blue. This is another outstanding use of
contrast. A quotation on the wall beside
the painting from Vettraino explains: “I loved the pure blue of the car against
the bright white of the Utah Salt Flats – it gives the sense of an almost
dream-like quality.” In 2007 the
painting sold at an auction in Gleneagles for £468 000.
The bygone
Hollywood era and the paintings of girls in beach cafés evoke a warm
nostalgia. But at the other end of the
spectrum Vettriano is notorious for his collection of erotic paintings. There are connotations of prostitution with
men in suits and women in lingerie. Most
of the paintings you would include in the “erotic collection” elude to sex –
never love. One painting that caught my
eye at the exhibition was of a woman draped in a white dress sprawled on a
couch: she has her arm hanging down, cigarette in hand; she’s facing away as if
exasperated. The painting (pictured above) is called
“After the Thrill is Gone” and like many other erotic paintings there is a
subtext of despair.
Evocative or
vulgar? It’s a big problem for Jack
Vettriano. Critics have called his work
“badly conceived soft porn” while another said he “doesn’t paint, he colours
in.” Vettriano hit back and said he
focuses on the “power of sex” and the way it manipulates people.
I have all this
in my mind when leaving Vettriano’s Retrospective exhibition. But before I go I want to have one last look
at my favourite painting of the dancing couple – which I now know to be called
“The Singing Butler” (pictured below) and was painted in 1992 selling for roughly £750 000 in
2004. It’s easy to see its appeal and why
the artist makes a lot of money in royalties each year from print replicas. Perhaps the art critics don’t like it for
this reason: maybe it’s too “mainstream”; maybe art isn’t meant to be
liked. Technically, Vettriano isn’t the
best artist that ever lived and he admits this.
But I don’t see the logic behind devaluing something simply because it’s
popular. I buy some postcards on my way out for my wall and I make sure to leave a comment in the visitor book: “captures the hopes and fears of a decadent era both then and now.”
Jack Vettriano: A Retrospective is an exhibition of the artist’s
paintings from 1992 to 2013 and will be at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and
Museum until the 23rd of February 2014. Student tickets are £3. Please visit
http://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/museums/kelvingrove/current-exhibition/Jack-Vettriano-A-Retrospective/Pages/default.aspx
