Jack Vettriano's books span his career as a painter and feature hundreds of his paintings. Which book is best for a gift, or for yourself? Find out in our review of Jack Vettriano books, including early books such as Fallen Angels to the more recent A Retrospective.
In 1999 Jack Vettriano published his first book, Fallen Angels. Since then he has produced a further 6 books and a Limited Edition book and his books have been re-printed several times. Jack Vettriano's books contain a huge variety of his paintings and also give more insight into his life as an artist and the development of his paintings throughout his career.
Whether buying a Jack Vettriano book for yourself or as a gift for a friend how do you choose which book to buy? Which of Jack Vettriano's books is the best? Here's our review of all his books published to date to help you decide.
A Man's World
Containing only the introduction text, A Man's World is all about the paintings, promising to "bring together some of Vettriano's most thought provoking images of men, revealing both vulnerability and strength in their relationships with women and the world."
Featuring 96 of Vettriano's paintings and including images such as The City Cafe and The Parlour of Temptation, it's a lovely book to browse and enjoy the paintings in the book.
A Man's World by Jack Vettriano
You can find more of the paintings in A Man's World on our A Man's World Pinterest Board.
Looking for A Man's World signed by Jack Vettriano? You can buy one here.
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Studio Life
Ever wondered how an artist spends their time? How they create, not only the painting, but the inspiration behind the painting? How does their upbringing and their surroundings impact on their work? In Studio Life we are promised a deeper insight into Jack Vettriano, his life in the studio and how his paintings evolve, and it certainly delivers.
The foreword from Ian Rankin gives an exquisite insight into Jack Vettriano from a fellow Fifer. In Studio Life we find out about the processes involved in creating a work of art, from the original concept, to choosing a model and the painting of Vettriano's vision. It gives a deep and honest account of his life and experiences and how they reflect in his paintings. We also get a chance to find out about Vettriano's relationship with the art world and the art critics.
The narration is interspersed with 38 of Vettriano's paintings, including Her Secret Life and On Parade. Studio Life is a thoroughly enjoyable read.
You can view some of the images featured in Studio Life in our Studio Life Pinterest board.
Get your own copy of Studio Life signed by Jack Vettriano here.
Jack Vettriano: A Life
Written by Anthony Quinn the book guides us through each of Vettriano's main exhibitions up to 2004 when the book was first published.
Anthony Quinn tells us of Vettriano's life at the time of each exhibition and also the inspiration behind the paintings that formed them. Spanning over 190 pages, A Life delivers, through Anthony Quinn's expert guidance and his talks with Jack Vettriano, an insight into Vettriano's relationships, both personal and with the world at large, his fears over how his commissioned work will be received, and his relationship with the past. In his own words Vettriano states:
"I have this nostalgic feel about the past. I seem to have spent my life wistfully looking back. I live more for yesterday than I do for tomorrow".
Jack Vettriano: A Life is a wonderful book which is fabulously well written by Anthony Quinn. His text is interspersed with over 150 of Vettriano's paintings from the exhibitions Tales of Love & Other Stories, The Passion & The Pain, Lovers & Other Strangers and Affairs of the Heart.
To see just some of the amazing paintings view our Jack Vettriano: A Life Pinterest Board.
You can buy 1st Edition copies of Jack Vettriano: A Life, signed by Jack Vettriano here.
Lovers & Other Strangers
Another of Jack Vettriano's books written by Anthony Quinn who, undoubtedly, understood Vettriano and his artistic style so well. His narrative leads us through Vettriano's early life and paintings, and through Vettriano's career and his exhibitions with Tim Heggie, with whom he had the God's Children exhibition, the Catto Gallery where he exhibited Fallen Angels and onto his relationship with Tom Hewlett and The Portland Gallery who became his publishers and were Vettriano's publishers at the time of A Life going to print.
Lovers & Other Strangers by Jack Vettriano
An excellent insight into Vettriano's painting career up to 2000 and includes 100 paintings by Jack Vettriano, a great choice for those who have a love of Vettriano's earlier works. Lovers and Other Strangers has been released in both hardback and soft-back versions.
In addition to the hardback and soft-back versions, Lovers & Other Strangers was also released as an exquisite Limited Edition book. Limited to an edition of 250, bound in 1/2 black leather and red Siltex cloth, with gilt page edges and the title blocked in gold foil on the spine.
Lovers & Other Strangers by Jack Vettriano
To view more of Vettriano's early pieces and paintings featured in the Lovers & Other Strangers book check out our Lovers & Other Strangers Pinterest board.
Find out more about the Lovers & Other Strangers and get your own copy.
Fallen Angels
W. Gordon Smith, playwright, art critic and friend of Jack Vettriano wrote the introduction to Fallen Angels.
It is often said that Vettriano's paintings allow the viewer to tell the story behind them, providing their own narrative to the scenes on display. At the suggestion that a new book of Vettriano paintings be accompanied by Scottish writing, W. Gordon Smith proposed "an anthology of short stories, contemporary poetry, extracts from plays and novels, and resonant fragments from the past." Writers were then asked to respond to the paintings, not to describe them, but to "intrude and interpret".
Fallen Angels by Jack Vettriano
Fallen Angels delivers on W Gordon Smith's vision and Vettriano's paintings are accompanied by short stories, including those by AL Kennedy and poems by Joy Hendry. The stories and poems weave their narration around 40 of Jack Vettriano's paintings.
Check out the Fallen Angels Pinterest board for a selection of the paintings in Fallen Angels.
Get your own copy of Fallen Angels signed by Jack Vettriano here.
Women In Love
Women In Love is similar in structure to A Man's World. Women in Love, containing very little narrative and is all about the paintings which were inspired by Vettriano's muses and the women in his life.
Women in Love by Jack Vettriano
Women In Love features relaxed beach scenes such as: Mad Dogs (cover image); Her Secret Life - a woman at a phone booth, to the darker feel of Cocktails and Broken Dreams, featuring a lone women and a bartender. There are 86 beautiful images to browse.
You can find more images from the book Women in Love in our Pinterest board.
Or why not buy your own copy of Women In Love signed by Jack Vettriano.
Jack Vettriano: A Retrospective
A Retrospective by Jack Vettriano
The first Retrospective of Jack Vettriano's works was held at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum in Glasgow from 21st Sept 2013 to 23rd Feb 2014. It was a record breaking exhibition with 132,502 visitors. Jack Vettriano released a catalogue to coincide with the exhibition. Officially, it is a catalogue, but at 196 pages and including 120 of Vettriano's paintings which span his career, it is more book than catalogue and earns its place in this book review.
This is the perfect book to browse paintings by Vettriano and see how his style has changed over the years.
Unsigned copies of Jack Vettriano: A Retrospective are also available here.