Vettriano love affair on the wane

ONE of Jack Vettriano's best-known paintings, Dance Me To The End Of Love, yesterday failed to reach its expected price at auction.

The relatively low price was immediately put down to a decline in popularity for the controversial artist.

The painting, which sold for £290,000, depicts a couple waltzing into the mist. It was expected to sell for between £300,000 and £500,000 at Shapes Auctioneers Fine Art Sale in Edinburgh.

It is one of the world's best-selling posters, but the original has rarely been seen. The canvas was bought by a Scots art collector living in London in 1998 and remained in the woman's private possession until yesterday, when it was bought by an anonymous bidder.

Vettriano took the art world by storm in 2004 when another celebrated picture from the same period, The Singing Butler, sold for £740,000.

However, last year he was forced to defend himself against charges of plagiarism, after he was accused of copying his most famous paintings from a reference book.

The artist said that the reference volumes at the centre of the criticism were there precisely to give painters a source of inspiration.

Art critic Iain Gale suggested the outcome of yesterday's sale could be associated with a decline in popularity for that type of artwork. "The outcome does not surprise me. I think he has had his day when it comes to the really big figures. I don't think the controversy over copying has had any impact on his popularity. I think there is just a general waning out there for that sort of work."

Richard Ingleby, of Edinburgh's Ingleby Gallery, said of the sale: "I cannot say that I am shocked. The price was pretty crazy to start with."

A spokesman for Shapes Auctioneers said last night: "It has been sold and so naturally we are delighted. As far as we are concerned, the sale was a success."