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David Bowie's art collection

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David Bowie owned an extensive private art collection which included paintings, sculpture and furniture. He started collecting art in the mid-1970s and continued through the end of his life. His collection included paintings that he himself painted.

Bowie as an art collector and supporter of art

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A white man and a black woman
David Bowie and wife Iman in 2009

Bowie reportedly began appreciating and collecting art in the mid 1970s, when he moved to Berlin to escape his cocaine addiction.[1] Artist and writer Matthew Collings characterized the collection as "bohemian, romantic, expressive, emotional art".[2] Bowie was described by an art advisor as "a true collector. His acquisitions were not commercially motivated; he cared about the art, not the market. His was a deeply personal, eclectic collection, reflecting his British roots and his real passion for art."[3] He was frequently featured in ARTnews' "Top 200 collectors" lists.[4] Bowie's collection of contemporary African Art, was described as "[demonstrating] an appreciation that goes far beyond the all-too-frequent exoticism and 'othering' of art from the continent."[4] In 1995, Bowie pushed for an exhibition of South African art, and he wrote about the 1995 Johannesburg Biennale for the magazine Modern Painters.[4] By 1998, Bowie was a board member of Modern Painters, and he participated in the Nat Tate art hoax.[5]

Notable artists and works in the collection

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"Art was, seriously, the only thing I’d ever wanted to own."

David Bowie to The New York Times in 1998[6]
A 1966 Brionvega RR 126 [it] radiogram, similar to the one in Bowie's collection

"The only thing I buy obsessively and addictively is art."

David Bowie to the BBC in 1999[7]

Notable artists included in Bowie's collection included:

Basquiat's Air Power, estimated at US $3.5 million to be the most expensive single piece of art in Bowie's collection,[7] sold for $8.8 million in 2016.[3] Tintoretto's altarpiece, which was one of Bowie's earliest art acquisitions back in 1987, was sold for £191,000.[14]

Bowie himself was a painter and sculptor, and works by his own hand are part of his collection. This includes a series of self-portraits he painted in 1995, one of which he used as the cover to his album Outside.[16][17] Bowie would also attend gallery openings, often with his wife Iman, such as in 1999 when visiting an opening with artist Damian Loeb.[18]

2016 auction

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"David’s art collection was fuelled by personal interest and compiled out of passion. He always sought and encouraged loans from the collection and enjoyed sharing the works in his custody. Though his family are keeping certain pieces of particular personal significance, it is now time to give others the opportunity to appreciate – and acquire – the art and objects he so admired."

A statement from Bowie's family about the auction[19]

Around 350[3] pieces of art from Bowie's collection were put up for auction in November 2016. None of Bowie's own art was part of the auction, and the proceeds from the sale went to Bowie's family. An estimate by Sotheby's auction house estimated the value of the collection for sale at around US $13 million. Prior to the auction, some of the pieces were shown in Los Angeles, New York and Hong Kong.[7] The pieces up for auction represented about two-thirds of Bowie's entire art collection.[3]

Bowie's family sold the collection because they "didn't have the space" to store it.[8]

The auction exceeded expectations, and the entire collection was sold over two days for £32.9 million (app. $41.5 million), while the highest-selling item was Jean-Michel Basquiat’s graffiti-inspired painting Air Power, sold for £7.09 million.[9] Exhibitions of the works in London alone attracted over 51,000 visitors, the highest attendance for any pre-sale exhibition in London. The auctions themselves were attended by 1,750 bidders, with over 1,000 more bidding online.[20]

2021 auction

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In the mid- to late-1990s, Bowie painted a series of paintings entitled "DHead", typically followed by a roman numeral. These paintings were often of friends, bandmates, and self-portraits.[21] One such DHead was used as the album cover for his 1995 album Outside.[22] In June 2021, "DHead XLVI" was put up for auction by a Canadian company, and fetched a price of CA $108,120 (or roughly USD $87,800).[21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Sandford 1997, pp. 154–55.
  2. ^ a b c Jones, Rebecca (14 July 2016). "David Bowie art collection revealed for the first time". BBC. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d Reyburnnov, Scott (10 November 2016). "David Bowie's Seal of Approval Bolsters Art at Auction". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d "Ziggy Played Guitar (And Critiqued Art): David Bowie's Far-Out Influence on the Fine-Art World". 20 March 2018. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Biography of William Boyd". BookBrowse.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-08. Retrieved 2007-05-19.
  6. ^ a b c d e Kimmelman, Michael (14 June 1998). "David Bowie on His Favorite Artists". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2 January 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Silva, Cristina (14 July 2016). "David Bowie's Art Collection Is As Beautiful As You Imagined". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 16 July 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Kennedy, Maev (14 July 2016). "David Bowie's private art collection to be unveiled for the first time". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Sotheby's: David Bowie's Art Captivates Collectors". Archived from the original on 2018-01-01. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  10. ^ "David Bowie's Art Collection Set for Exhibition, Auction". Rolling Stone. 14 July 2016. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  11. ^ "A London interior: Harold Gilman painting in the Bowie Sotheby's sale". 8 August 2016. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  12. ^ "One of two Wyndham Lewis paintings in the Bowie Sotheby's sale". 8 August 2016. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  13. ^ Lockett, Dee (14 July 2016). "For $13 Million, David Bowie's Elusive Art Collection Could Be Yours". Vulture. Archived from the original on 15 March 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  14. ^ a b Shaw, Anny (3 September 2019). "David Bowie's Tintoretto returns to Venice after more than 200 years". Archived from the original on 1 November 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  15. ^ McElhatton, Noelle (22 August 2016). "Yeats painting owned by David Bowie for sale at Sotheby's in November". Antiques Trade Gazette. Archived from the original on 4 November 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  16. ^ "Bowieart.com / David Bowie / Printmaking". Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  17. ^ "Random notes". Newsweek. 10 December 1990. p. 94.
  18. ^ Malle, Chloe (May 2021). "Bitcoin Baroque". Town & Country. p. 30.
  19. ^ Monroe, Jazz (14 July 2016). "David Bowie's Art Collection Up for Sale". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  20. ^ "Bowie Art Auction Nets $41 Million: Sotheby's". 13 November 2016. Archived from the original on 16 February 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  21. ^ a b "DHead XLVI by David Bowie". Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  22. ^ "Bowieart.com / David Bowie / Printmaking". Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
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