Jack Vettriano, the Scottish painter who was often dismissed as kitsch and derivative but became one of Britain’s most successful artists has died. Often compared to Edward Hopper and Walter Sickert because of his subject matter, after his sudden breakthrough in 1988 he painted prolifically.
He was born into a mining village left school early and wandered for a few years career-wise before going to college and starting to paint without success in the early years. After his rise to prominence he was out selling Monet and Van Gogh and earning a reported £500,000 in annual royalties from reproductions of his paintings on postcards, posters, calendars and jigsaw puzzles.
He never made ‘claims for his art, pointing to the gritty themes of film noir, the bright colours of art deco railway posters and the garish drama of pulp fiction novel covers as his aesthetic inspiration.’
He was born 17 November 1951 Methil, Scotland, 9.30am, and had a 12th house intense Scorpio Sun square Pluto and sextile Mars in Virgo, so drawn to undercurrents of darkness and mystery in his paintings. He also had Saturn conjunct his Midheaven and Venus opposition Jupiter square an 8th house Cancer Moon; with Uranus also in the 8th square a 10th house Neptune.
He drew his inspiration from the depths with a strong 8th house and packed a punch in his subject matter, which seemed colourful on the surface, often light-hearted but carried undertones of unease.
His creative 5th and 7th harmonic charts were well aspected; as was his leaving-a-legacy-for-history 17H and his global renown 22H.
I was interested in this subject being a fan of Jack Vettriano. I’m not an astrologer at all, but have followed Marjorie’s site for many years. I am a Botanical Artist and have an Aries sun, Libra moon and Cancer ascendant. I am fortunate that over 85% of my paintings have sold and I love the sheer beauty of flowers, the wonder at their structure, the tones and colours, not the cutting and dissecting type of illustration. To begin, there is the whole process of inspiration at spotting something magical that I wish to paint and the big excitement of starting up, the enthusiasm and joy. Then the preparation, composition etc etc, then the initial “breaking the white” putting the first brush stroke and colour on the paper. After that, for me, it becomes a bit of a battle, struggling to portray the essence and true nature of the plant as I see experience it. This can take a couple of months with layer upon layer plus the love of minute detail, I do understand that this type of art is not to everyone’s taste, but it gives me great heart felt pleasure.
Angela: As someone who also likes to paint, I’d love to know if Venus and Neptune are in aspect in your chart? Or from anyone else who happens to read this 🙂
Venus 2 Aries 27’33’. Neptune 8 Scorpio 13’12’ r…..is what is written on my chart. But don’t know what it means, please let me know what you think?
ah Angela!….
Your artistic process sounds wonderfully on the Pisces/Virgo axis!! I find this polarity the most interesting and challenging! The wonder and beauty of the Piscean Dao, alongside the analytical, precise, mundane, task oriented Virgo. In your Solar chart, with Aries rising.. that puts Pisces and Virgo in their own houses.
How do I do a task that is boring or difficult and still find an element of awe!
How do I nourish the awe and Mystery? ….by “getting to the mat”!…. through work and self-discipline!
Your description is lovely!!
hoorah! for your success… that, too, must be in your chart. 🙂
I am a Cancer Sun, Aries Moon (opp Neptune), and Sag rising. I’m not an artist… am envious of them, actually… however, I deeply appreciate and am nourished by art and music.
Hellooooo Sandra, many thanks for your answer and feedback, much appreciated.
Angela: Sorry for the delay, I was just thinking that the quincunx aspect is producing the struggle after that Aries/Venusian inspiration strikes? I do love Sandra’s take though.
I have Neptune conjunct Venus in Sag which produces some okay results when I conquer endless procrastination!
Do you have a preferred medium or are you able to switch in between?
Very interesting write up. His paintings are quite melancholic.
Except for the on of the dogs playing cards, which nobody seems to mention.
Ha! I love it! And the snooker dogs
Cancer sun or moon often appears in the charts of painters. I wonder why that is? Reflectiveness of the lunar traits or an emotional connection with the medium somehow? Paint is Neptune I think, which is exalted in Cancer. An intertopic on its own. Art is always subjective.
I wonder if it’s because Cancer is a Cardinal sign and is associated with the mother, it ‘gives birth’, creates in the literal sense. Cardinal signs in general appear in the charts of artists, particularly painters for some reason. Creatives do often see their works as their children too, and there can even be a kind of post-natal depression when they have completed a work that has required a considerable amount of dedication, time and emotion in its creation.
That makes a lot of sense but why the medium of painting in particular? Maybe it’s the most obviously reflective, in true lunar style, of the artistic forms?
Paint is fluid and tactile. The canvas is an empty, blank space, waiting to be filled, full of potential, a potential playground even. Perhaps I’m grasping at straws. But look at a painter like Francis Bacon for example and the way he worked. He would stand in front of a blank canvas and literally throw paint at it, put his hands on the paint and grapple with it. A lot of rage involved too, so an incredibly physical and emotional process.
Bacon had a Cardinal Grand Cross – a Scorpio Sun, Like Vettriano, but with Moon/Saturn in Aries, Mercury/Jupiter in Libra, Neptune in Cancer and Uranus in Capricorn
Cancer is a very creative sign, very design conscious, and full of initiative
Thanks, Marjorie. I was hoping you would cover this. I’m struck by just how Cardinal his chart is, which is usual for an artist, but his is super surbocharged with that inspirational 8th house Cancer Moon/Uranus at the focal point of a T Square, an aesthetically refined Venus/Saturn in Libra opposition Jupiter in Aries. He’s interested in relationships between men and women and the tension and darker undertones of male/female intimacy. In some ways his work reminds me of the intimacy and tension in Paula Regos paintings, only from a more male perspective. With that Jupiter Saturn, which I think you have previously described as prone to depression, Marjorie he did in fact experience depression after a painful injury led him into drug and alcohol dependency. I believe he lived alone.
But I wondered what is in his chart that reflects his outsider status. His work has been horribly savaged by Art Critics (who tend to be rather spiteful at the best of times). It might be that BML conjunct the Part of Fortune in the 8th perhaps, or maybe Chiron in the 1st, which ties into that Cardinal T Square.
Thanks Marjorie and VF. I’ve been interested in Jack Vettriano’s work for quite a while. It’s fascinating to see his chart. For some reason I thought of Daphne du Maurier, whose huge popular success was often met with academic sneering for many years. Her Taurus birthday falls opposite Vettriano – 13 May 1907. du Maurier’s work is now accepted by academics as worthy of study (!). Her work is also full of the darkest shadows, she was reclusive, and kept many secrets regarding her eccentric childhood and bisexuality from the public.
Reading this intrigued me too:
“He also had Saturn conjunct his Midheaven and Venus opposition Jupiter square an 8th house Cancer Moon; with Uranus also in the 8th square a 10th house Neptune.”
Daphne du Maurier has Jupiter conjunct Neptune in Cancer at the MC. Part of a t-square, they oppose Mars conjunct Uranus, and square Venus in Aries. Her Taurus Sun and Gemini Moon are in the 8th on the astrodienst chart I looked at.
12th house Sun I suspect. I was surprised at his chart, I share 12th house Sun, Saturn on my MC and Cancer Moon.
Such an emphasised Uranus in the 8th would make him an outsider but I suppose most painters are that. Maybe it was his Pluto on the point of a T Square to his Sun opposition Algol. A focal point Pluto can often attract hostility – though what the art critics were on about is a mystery given the absolute hogwash they lauded to the heavens as great modern art.
Ha! Fond memories of this at the Tate Modern….
“Creed’s art is characterised by a gentle but subversive wit and by a minimalism rooted in an instinctive anti-materialism. His often extremely self-effacing works, all titled by number, such as Work No.79 1993, ‘some Blu-Tack kneaded, rolled into a ball and depressed against a wall’, or Work No. 88 ‘a sheet of A4 paper crumpled into a ball’,” Turner Prize 2001 artists: Martin Creed
Well, I suppose there’s always room for some conceptual humour. But otherwise…..we are all creating “self-effacing works” every day!
Thanks, Marjorie. Agree about Pluto attracting hostility. As you say an artist’s career is by its very nature unconventional and insecure.
Maurizio Cattelan’s artwork of a banana duct-taped to a wall, entitled ‘Comedian’ fetched $6.2m (£4.9m) at Sotheby’s in New York recently, an absurdly pointless pile of decadent nonsense worthy of our unhinged Neptune in Pisces era.
I noticed ‘The Guardian’ couldn’t resist a rather mean-spirited obituary, saying there is no intellectual challenge in Vettriano’s paintings, comparing his work to a ‘greasy cheeseburger’ while completely misunderstanding that there is meaning and a narrative behind his paintings, that they resonate with people which is why they have such mass appeal. But that’s The Guardian for you!
Jane, I didn’t know that about Du Maurier, thank you.