Jack Vettriano is a Scottish born painter who emerged from the unlikely background of an early working life in the Scottish coal-fields to become one of Britain's best known contemporary artists. Vettriano started to paint in his spare time at the age of twenty-one and received no formal art school training. He first achieved monumental success in Scotland and England after successful exhibitions at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1989 and the Royal Academy in London in 1990. His style recalls the romanticism of a bygone era and each picture seems to be an episode in an ongoing drama in which the viewer can participate. This nostalgia along with his technical skills and rare gifts of realism and humor have made him a vastly popular artist worldwide. His success includes sell-out solo exhibitions in Edinburgh, London, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, and New York.