Discovering that some of your favourite rock musicians are also visual artists, gives you a whole new perspective on how to build your collection. Take the recently departed glam rock icon, David Bowie. He has been creating art for the better part of his life and whether you consider it good or bad, if there’s a famous name attached to it when it hits the auction block, it’s bound to be a hit. That’s what happened when one of his unknown Dead Head paintings found its way to auction.
An Ontario Thrift Store Discovery Worth Tens of Thousands
It’s not every day that you read about a fortune being made from a charity shop find in Canada. Most often these extraordinary discoveries are made in England or Europe, due to their illustrious histories. But we’re not talking about antiquities here. The item in question is a modern piece of art painted by the one and only, David Bowie.
David Bowie's D Head XLVI
The mixed-media, canvas painting, entitled D Head XLVI, is from a collection Bowie called Dead Heads, featuring 47 paintings of band members, friends, acquaintances and self-portraits. Part computer collage and part acrylic painting, D Head XLVI is signed by the musician and dated 1997.
Measuring only 9¾" x 8", the portrait was found at a thrift store located in the Machar Mall in South River near North Bay, Ontario. The asking price was a mere $5. The buyer, who remains nameless, couldn’t believe it when he saw Bowie’s signature on the back of the work of art. He immediately took it to Cowley Abbot, Canada’s Art Auctioneers, to be authenticated with help from UK Bowie expert, Andy Peters, who has been an avid collector of Bowie autographs since 1978.
The now famous painting was sold online at auction in Toronto at the Cowley Abbott Spring International Art Auction on June 24th 2021. The painting was the highlight of the auction and caused an online bidding frenzy among collectors worldwide. With a modest estimated price of $9,000-12,000, the piece sold to an anonymous, private US collector for a whopping $108,120, setting a new global auction record for an artwork by David Bowie.
The Hollywood Effect
Rob Cowley, president of Cowley Abbott, believes the artwork is an 'abstract self portrait' of the artist and strongly mimics the colours of Bowie’s famous Ziggy Stardust alter-ego. In an interview with BlogTO, Cowley told reporters:
"Our gallery was inundated with calls and interest for the Bowie painting throughout the duration of our Online Auction of International Art. It's a phenomenon we call the Hollywood Effect, when there is a famous name attached, or when there is an extraordinary set of circumstances such as rarity or human-interest story behind the artwork."
David Bowie’s Artistic Journey
David Bowie died of liver cancer in 2016. He was born David Robert Jones. At the age of 15, he formed his first band in 1962 called, The Konrads. It would be one of many bands and attempts at making it in the music industry. With the release of the single, Space Oddity in 1969, Bowie was beginning to make a name for himself and would go on to become a music legend and pop culture icon. It was his 1983 album, Let’s Dance, that won him international fame and commercial success. To date, he has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide.
In his younger years, he studied art and design and became a passionate art collector and painter, following in the footsteps of modernist painters such as the German expressionists, Francis Bacon and the London School of painters. He also studied dramatic arts from avant-garde theatre and mime to commedia dell'arte, which heavily influenced his music and stage performances.
He turned his hand to art in 1976, but didn’t get seriously involved until the 1990s when he created the Dead Heads collection. In 1995 one of his portraits was displayed in a London art gallery. Though not many of his artworks have found their way to auction, a painting from the same collection entitled, D-Head IX, sold for $27,500 at Christie’s in 2018.
Since his death in 2016, other auctions have featured memorabilia of the artist. This year an online auction called the David Bowie Collection of Artist Edward Bell was held by British auction house, Halls Fine Art of Shrewsbury, and featured 137 lots worth around £75,000.
Musicians Who Paint
David Bowie is not the first musician to put his artistic talent to canvas. Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Ronnie Wood from the Rolling Stones are just a few famous musicians also known for creating art. Posthumously, these artworks skyrocket in value, making them a good investment.
For example, different pieces by Bob Dylan have landed on the auction block, with some being sold for as little as $84. In 2021 at 1818 Auctioneers in the UK, a set of giclee prints by Bob Dylan called Train Tracks, sold for $22,196, making it the highest on record. So consider purchasing a painting from a living musician next time they go up for auction.
Investing In Rock Art
One of the better-known auction houses, famous for selling celebrity memorabilia, photographs and artwork, is Julien’s Auctions of Beverly Hills, California. In 2021, they featured an unprecedented collection of original art works by the incomparable Ronnie Wood. The auction featured 300 lots, including some limited edition prints and a hand-painted guitar.
Ronnie Wood often describes himself as "a painter who happens to play guitar." Like many musicians before him, his passion for art started early on at school, long before his rise to musical stardom. It soon became apparent that he had a gift. He’s had numerous art shows and produced documentaries and books featuring his paintings.
"Both art and music hold their position in my life. They bounce off one another and make me the person I am" ~ Ronnie Wood
Wood is good friends with the famous artist, Damien Hirst and credits him for getting him seriously involved with art again after his release from rehab in 2008. Hirst helped him on his road to recovery by setting up an art studio especially for him to create.
Some highlights from A Prominent Collection Of Artwork By Ronnie Wood include:
- A custom-made Eggle electric guitar signed by members of The Rolling Stones (Est. $4,000-$6,000)
- A blue crayon sketch of model Patti Hansen (Est. $800-$1,000)
- A graphite portrait of Ronnie’s ex-wife, Jo reclining (Est. $1,000-$2,000)
- A set of lyrics for the song "Fear for Your Future" hand-written on Rolling Stones stationary (Est. $600-$800)