A Jack Vettriano painting which was bought for £300 at a village arts festival has been valued at £10,000 after being featured on Antiques Roadshow.
The oil on canvas artwork, called ‘Deck Chairs’, was painted more than 30 years ago by Vettriano, who was found dead aged 73 at his apartment in the south of France earlier this year.
The current owner acquired it from his parents, who had bought it at an arts festival in Fife, Scotland in the early 1990s, before Vettriano was a big name.
Typical of his trademark style, the work shows a smartly dressed couple carrying brightly coloured deck chairs at a beach.
The painting was valued by Antiques Roadshow expert Charlotte Riordan when the BBC show visited Hill of Tarvit Mansion in Fife.
On Sunday night’s episode of the long-running show, the owner said: ‘My parents bought it in the early 1990s at the Pittenweem Arts Festival.
‘They like it because of the close resemblance to my dad and his cousin, my aunt Molly.
‘I think they bought for in the region of £300.’
A painting which was bought for £300 at a village arts festival has been valued at £10,000 after being featured on the Antiques Roadshow
Ms Riordan described Fife-born Vettriano, who was found dead at his apartment in the south of France in March, as one of Britain’s most popular artists and said works by him were highly sought-after.
She said: ‘You can see this is Vettriano transitioning from his early style to his more mature style.
‘It’s exactly the kind of subject matter you would expect from a Vettriano, it’s a really, really lovely composition.
‘He was always a contentious figure. He was one of Britain’s best loved artists by the general population but critically less highly regarded.
‘He passed away earlier this year and it’s a bit early to tell what kind of impact that’s going to have on his market but in terms of value you’re probably looking at around the £10,000 mark if this was to appear at auction.’
The painting was valued by Antiques Roadshow expert Charlotte Riordan when the BBC show visited Hill of Tarvit Mansion in Fife
The owner added: ‘Wow, that’s a lot of money. That’s great.’
Vettriano shot to fame with his 1992 painting The Singing Butler.
The oil-on-canvas depicts an elegant couple dancing on a storm-swept beach accompanied by their butler and maid.
In 2004, it sold for a record £744,800 at Sotheby’s, having had an asking price of £200,000.
Vettriano’s publicist said he was found at his apartment in Nice on March 1 and French police said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.
One of his closest friends, Remi Akande, said the self-taught artist had become ‘reclusive’ as he shied away from the public eye.
A portrait of Scottish painter Jack Vettriano taken in June 2017
The 52-year-old, who struck up a friendship with Vettriano after a chance meeting in Edinburgh several years ago, said ‘snobby’ critics ‘took a lot of his confidence’.
The artist’s works garnered international acclaim, leading to exhibitions in cities such as Edinburgh, London, Hong Kong, Johannesburg and New York.
Among those to have acquired Vettriano paintings are Jack Nicholson, Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Tim Rice and Robbie Coltrane.
The miner’s son was born Jack Hoggan in 1951, in Methil, Fife. He left school at 15 to become a mining engineer but then took up painting after a girlfriend gave him a box of watercolours for his 21st birthday.
First Minister John Swinney said he made a ‘unique and evocative contribution to artistic life in Scotland’.