David Bowie, the famous musician and composer, was also a fan of other artistic branches. Bowie loved to paint; it was a facet of the artist that many do not know, in which he also stood up. Even today, his paintings have been auctioned and sold for thousands of dollars. Surely, Bowie would be perplexed at what is being done with his artistic creations.
David Bowie, the visual artist
Bowie, who studied art, music, and design at the Croydon School of Art, maintained a strong friendship with the most prominent artists of his time, such as Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat. David Bowie was also an inveterate art collector and devoted much of his life to painting, especially when he moved to Berlin in 1976 to detox from drugs.
However, Bowie was a self-conscious painter. He was worried about not being taken seriously; he only exhibited twice in his life, and the first was almost silently, at The Gallery, on Cork Street in London. The exhibition was entitled: New Afro / Pagan and Work: 1975-1995. Bowie exhibited more than 20 paintings, Afro sculptures, and some wallpapers showing the painter Lucian Freud immersed in a tank of formaldehyde and a castrated minotaur, and a tribute to Picasso on a traditional English floral background.
David Bowie’s artistic influences
His paintings were influenced by German expressionist art; his works were cruelly compared to the artistic dabbling of the Prince of Wales. In 1996, Bowie’s art reappeared at the Daniel Blaise Thorens Gallery in Basel. After that, nothing was heard of Bowie and his period as a visual artist. Although according to people close to him, he remained close to brushes and drawing, making collages, and generating computer images until he died in 2016.
How much does a David Bowie painting cost?
A few months ago, a painting of the British singer was bought by a person at an estimated price of 7,400 to 10,000 US dollars. The work measures 20 x 25 cm and is a profile portrait.
This painting of Bowie was first sold in 2001 on a website dedicated to the singer. The painting was sold and ended up in a charity store in Ontario, where an anonymous person bought it for the modest amount of 4 dollars.
Rob Cowley, president of the auction house, mentioned to AFP, what; “The work was painted between 1995 and 1997 as part of a series of portraits of David Bowie (called Dead Heads or DHeads) by the artist himself or family members. It is signed and dated 1997 on the back”.
David Bowie, a great exponent of British rock, but not only in the world of rock, left his mark on the world of art, film, music, and fashion. Bowie has sold almost 140 million records. He died at the age of 69 of cancer on January 10, 2016.
Translated by María Isabel Carrasco Cara Chards
