Vettriano

Jack Vettriano is one of my favorite painters. I have eyeballed his work for years. So the other day I decided to buy two prints of his, the "Waltzers'" and "Dance Me to the End of Love." His works are amazing.

What makes them so impressive to me is his mastery of the Art of Complicated Simplicity. His compositions seem to be meticulously composed yet his painting technique seems to be not so complex. His simple grazes of paint create the illusion of complicated brushwork. It is fantastic.

Plus his subject matter is also complex in its sophistication yet his themes are simplistic. Notice the same two models are used in both these paintings (below). His themes have a simple romantic feel to them yet the experience happens in the ambiance of white ties and long gowns of a upper middle /higher economic classification of people. And again through the composing process it seems he uses the laws of design to create the visual and sub-visual experience of complex sophistication while masterfully harmonizing it with a graceful sense of romantic rest causing a simple sway.... which is the Waltz or the Dance.

And in my opinion, it is that successful union of these Dualities that makes his work, Art.