Jack Vettriano, the self-taught Scottish painter best known for the work "The Singing Butler", has died aged 73, his publicist said on Monday. Vettriano was found dead at his apartment in the southern French city of Nice on Saturday.

Critics largely rejected his work, but when it was last sold in 2004, “The Singing Butler” was the most valuable piece of art to ever emerge from Scotland.

The Scottish artist – whose Singing Butler has been reproduced three million times, and who counted Jack Nicholson, Tim Rice and Terence Conran as fans – has died in France aged 73