These are perhaps unexpected picks to highlight in an auction of international art that’s peppered with works by global masters like Pablo Picasso, David Hockney and Marc Chagall, but to many South Africans – interested in art or not – they are instantly recognisable.
Anyone who walked into a Cardies gift and stationery store in the 1990s or early 2000s will recognise these images. The beautiful couple, in eveningwear, caught in a moment on a beach against a dramatic sky; a different beautiful duo snapped on a 1930s-style boardwalk; three punters in fancy morning dress at the British races, offset against more dramatic sky.
The paintings (and other similar versions) could have been stills from 1940s Hollywood film noir, except in our world we knew them on calendars and notebooks, and reproduced as prints you’d probably spent some time staring at in a hospital pause area. Such is the power of popular culture that most of us likely know Jack Vettriano’s work, without knowing anything of its creator.
Unsurprisingly, the self-taught Scotsman’s original paintings are massively popular with fans and the works regularly fetch record-setting prices. It’s also not a huge shock that art critics turn up their noses at these overly stylised and romantic “chocolate-box” pieces.
We’d imagine that Vettriano (born Hoggan, but he adopted his mother’s jazzier and more suitable maiden name) isn’t particularly worried about those naysayers. His art ranks as some of the most reproduced in the world – imagine the royalties on that.
And here’s the thing, Mark Read, chair of Everard Read, was instrumental in the beginning of his career. As he says, “I saw two small Vettrianos in the stairwell of the Royal Scottish Academy annual show in Edinburgh and telephoned my friend Tom Hewlett at London’s Portland Gallery and said: ‘There’s an artist here who has something important to say that will become extremely significant’ – and that was the start of Jack Vettriano.”
Vettriano’s work has exhibited in London, New York and at Everard Read Johannesburg.
The works featuring in this week’s Strauss & Co auction are major pieces that have been in South Africa for many years. “They are classic Vettrianos that show his acute insights into human relations and love and lust. People love them because they are sassy and sexy but there is also always a lurking sense that it’s all going to crash down,” says Read.
The estimates of the works on sale start at R700,000-R900,000 for Bad Timing (Study), R1.2m-R1.5m for The Proposal and R1.6m-R1.8m for Good Information.
If those prices are a bit above your budget, remember you can always easily buy a set of Vettriano greeting cards. As Read recalls, “there were even Vettriano-themed dress-up parties at a time, so influential were his works”. So perhaps a shindig on a stormy beach, in your finest attire, could be your plan instead.
The Strauss & Co live virtual international sale takes place at 7pm on October 22.
