Jack Vettriano, O.B.E.

The board is sound. The work is in good original condition, clean and ready to hang. Ultraviolet light reveals no sign of retouching. Held in a simple black and gold frame in fair condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

"All roads lead back to where I grew up. More and more, I realise that the gunpowder trials were laid long ago when I was a lad. They lie dormant and are then ignited by something more random; perhaps a song on the radio or a conversation in a pub, or seeing a woman done up to the nines ready for a night out" (Jack Vettriano, quoted in The Daily Express, 20 April 2004, p. 42)

Jack Vettriano was born Jack Hoggan in Methil in Fife in 1951, the son of a Scottish father and Italian mother, whose maiden name the artist later adopted. He left school aged sixteen and worked first as a mining engineer in the Fife coal-fields like his father, and later as a trainee chef and a barman and it was not until 1989 that he devoted his time to painting, aged 38. The story of Vettriano's introduction to painting is tinged with the romance, which pervades his work. He taught himself to paint by copying pictures by the Old Masters and Impressionist pictures in a bed-sit in Fife after a girlfriend bought him a set of watercolour paints for his twenty-first birthday.

Vettriano's first great success was in 1989 when the Royal Scottish Academy accepted two pictures for the annual exhibition in Edinburgh which sold on the first day. He has held highly successful solo exhibitions across the world; in London, Johannesburg, New York, Hong Kong and in Edinburgh. He was awarded an OBE this year at Buckingham Palace. Prints, posters and greetings cards of his paintings outsell any other artist and he has become the best loved of modern Scottish artists.

Dance Me to the End of Love is among a handful of Vettriano's best-known images depicting two ball-room dancers dancing the night away on a misty beach. The picture's popularity endures because it is a picture that is beautifully romantic and evokes nostalgic memories of black-and-white films.