Vettriano's No To Monty Art

The Scotsman reports that although Jack Vettriano is one of the world's best-selling painters as yet he has been shunned by the Scottish art establishment. His best known painting, The Singing Butler, sold at art auction for £744,000 and is one of the most reproduced paintings of modern times, but none of his works has ever been acquired by Scotland's national galleries. Now, the Fife-born former miner has revived his long-running feud with the National Galleries of Scotland claiming he was finally asked to paint a portrait for its art collection – only to turn the opportunity down because he did not like the proposed subject matter -golfer Colin Montgomerie. Vettriano told an audience at a charity event on Monday how his dealer had revealed an approach from the galleries, which have none of the artist's works in their collections. He said: "I was in France when I got a call from my art dealer, who said there might have been a breakthrough. 'The national galleries would like you to do a portrait'. I said, 'Who?'. 'Colin Montgomerie'. "I said, 'I'm afraid that the answer is no, I don't do men with breasts, and I don't mean that as unkind to Colin Montgomerie". Later in the evening at an Audience with Jack Vettriano, the artist was asked if he would ever paint a man as anything other than a prop for women. He replied: "I have to paint a face I like. Have you seen Colin Montgomerie's face recently?" However, gallery chiefs denied knowledge of any approach being made and insisted the National Galleries of Scotland had not commissioned a portrait of the golfer. A go-between, believed to be trying to break the impasse between the NGS and Vettriano, is thought to have suggested the idea to gallery officials. The Scottish National Portrait Gallery last night insisted it had not instigated the approach and that the idea of a commission had not been formally discussed or approved. Last year, the then director of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art described the artist's work as "lifeless". (For full source and full article click the Headline). Irish Art