Loved by the public, but not by art critics. Jack Vettriano on show in Rome (interview with the curator)

A major retrospective exhibition of Scottish painter Jack Vettriano has opened at Palazzo Velli in Rome. The show, which originated in Bologna at Palazzo Pallavicini, was transformed into a posthumous retrospective following the artist's death in March 2025. It features both original oil paintings and high-quality, limited-edition reproductions on museum paper, a curatorial choice made by Vettriano himself to make his work more accessible.

The exhibition highlights the central contradiction of Vettriano's career: immense public popularity versus critical disdain. It matters because it explores an artist who deliberately prioritized direct communication with a broad audience over acceptance by the art establishment. The show, through an interview with its curator, seeks to provide a deeper understanding of Vettriano's intentionally accessible style and his philosophy of art as emotional connection, challenging traditional hierarchies between original and reproduced work.