Artist Jack Vettriano has viewed a collection of his paintings ahead of a sale which could see them fetch up to £1.2 million.

The 12 works belonging to an anonymous collector will go under the hammer at Bonhams in Edinburgh on March 31 for an estimated £800,000 to £1.2 million.

Bonhams said the paintings, which have never appeared at auction before, offer a cross-section of the themes that have informed the self-taught artist's work for many years.

Head of Scottish art Chris Brickley said it was the most important collection of Vettriano's work to appear at auction for the past 10 years.

Speaking earlier this year, he said: ''This is one of the most comprehensive collections of Vettriano's work ever assembled, covering all the major periods of the artist's career and giving a vivid insight into his artistic development."

The works in the sale include Waltzers (estimated at £200,000-300,000), which shows elegant couples dancing under a night sky, while The Road to Nowhere (estimated at £150,000-200,000) and Missing Man II, which could fetch up to £150,000, show stylish figures on beaches.

Not all the works are dated but the earliest one that is dated is 1992 and the latest 2004.

Vettriano, born in 1951, left school at 16 and did not take up painting full-time until the age of 40.

The artist, who grew up in Methil, Fife, found fame in 1989 when two of his canvases submitted to the Scottish Royal Academy sold on the first day.

His work has since featured in exhibitions in Edinburgh, London and New York. He was made an OBE in 2003.

One of his most famous paintings, The Singing Butler, sold for £744,000 in 2004 and became one of the best-selling posters in Britain.

More than 123,000 people flocked to see a retrospective of his work at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow between September 2013 and February 2014, making it the most-visited art exhibition at the institution.

Actor Jack Nicholson and Sir Alex Ferguson are among the owners of Vettriano's work.