The exhibition at Kirkcaldy Galleries in Fife will feature 12 oil paintings he produced in his early twenties and thirties, signed with his birth name, Jack Hoggan.
The works, painted before its international success in the 1990s, will be exhibited alongside pieces sold in five and six figures.
This will be the artist’s first retrospective since a major exhibition at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow in 2013, and the first to focus on his formative years and early career stages.
Vettriano, from Fife, left school at age 15 to become a mining engineer, but began painting after a girlfriend gave him a box of watercolors for his 21st birthday.
The artist, born in 1951, learned by copying Old Masters, Impressionists and Scottish artists, and was inspired by works he saw in the Kirkcaldy Galleries, run by the OnFife cultural association.
He said: “I grew up admiring the work of so many great Scottish painters in what was then my local gallery.
“Kirkcaldy has a large permanent collection and a free admission policy, so I have to thank the galleries for starting my art education.”
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The new exhibition, which opens in June, will feature one of two paintings Vettriano presented for the Royal Scottish Academy’s annual exhibition in 1988.
Both paintings sold on day one, a turning point that inspired him to become a full-time artist.
Among the 57 private loans, we will find pieces like Billy Boys, Valentine Rose and Bluebird in Bonneville.
OnFife Curator Alice Pearson said: “This is the first time that Jack has agreed to exhibit painted works simply as a hobby alongside later pieces that have won over sold-out exhibitions in London and At New York.
“The exhibit will highlight the diversity of subjects and styles that Jack tackles while learning his craft, giving him the confidence and technical ability to develop his own identifiable style.”
Also included will be Long Time Gone, which takes place against the backdrop of the now demolished Methil Power Station, a once familiar landmark from Fife.
The exhibition was originally scheduled for 2019, but has been postponed twice due to Covid-19 restrictions.
