THE retrospective of the paintings of Jack Vettriano has become not only the most successful art exhibition ever held at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, but also a financial boom for Glasgow's museums.

Profits from the Jack Vettriano Retrospective, which includes more than 100 of his works and has been seen by a record 123,300 people, will be a welcome boost to the finances of the museum, which draws the exhibition to a close on Sunday.

Vettriano's success has exceeded that of the recent Glasgow Boys exhibition, which attracted 123,289 visitors in 2010.

Since the Vettriano show opened to the public in September an average of 5500 people a week have seen the exhibition.

The artist, who recently announced he was moving back to Scotland from London, said: "I was astonished and very flattered to find out that my retrospective exhibition has received a record-breaking number of visitors. From the very outset, I have been treated with enormous warmth and appreciation by the management and staff of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and I am deeply touched to hear that their enthusiasm has been echoed by so many of the visitors to my exhibition."

A spokesman for Glasgow Life, said: "There has been a boost, not least within the museum shop. Although there are always costs associated with hosting any exhibition, any surplus will be reinvested in Glasgow Life services."