The publishing company established by the successful Scottish painter Jack Vettriano is being shut down.
The painter, who recently moved to Edinburgh, has closed the Heartbreak Publishing Ltd, which has ceased trading.
It is understood the move, officially called voluntary liquidation, was not made because the company, set up in 2008, was in financial trouble.
Instead, the artist wants to establish a new way for his fans to buy prints and other art works, through a new website shop on www.jackvettriano.com.
A statement released on behalf of the artist said: "Heartbreak Publishing Limited, Jack Vettriano's official publishing company in which the artist is majority shareholder, will cease trading as of immediate effect due to solvent voluntary liquidation by the shareholders.
"All creditors will be paid."
Vettriano added: "This is purely a business decision and involves a return of the company's assets to the shareholders. Signed, limited edition prints, open edition posters, cards, and books will still be available from early this year through my official website."
Vettriano also closed the Heartbreak Gallery in London in July last year.
Vettriano, born in Fife in 1951 and self-taught, has recently moved to Edinburgh from London, although he still spends time at a house in the south of France.
He remains one of the most commercially successful Scottish artists and he broke records with his major retrospective at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in 2013.
A private collection of works by Vettriano, is shortly to be sold at auction in Scotland for an estimated £1.2 million.
The collection of a dozen paintings is being sold by an anonymous Scotland-based collector of the self-taught artist, and will be sold at a special stand-alone sale at the Bonhams auction house in Edinburgh.
The collection, to be sold on March 31 in the capital, includes some of the artist's best-known images.
None of the paintings have appeared at auction before and Bonhams believe the sale will raise between £800,000 and £1.2m.
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