David Bowie Painting Auction: Bought for $5 CAD, the bid price has exceeded 10,000

Recently, Canadian art auction house Cowley Abbott is auctioning a portrait created by the late British rock star David Bowie, which is estimated to be up to 12,000 Canadian dollars (about $9,775), and its auction price has exceeded this figure on the first day of launch. It is expected that by the end of the auction on the 24th of this month, the price of the painting will be higher. It is worth mentioning that the painting was purchased by the seller from a dump for $5 (about $4.10).

CNN reported that the painting, titled "DHead XLVI," was purchased for $5 by an anonymous Canadian seller at a landfill donation center three hours north of Toronto, only to be accidentally discovered to be the work of rock star David Bowie.

According to Rob Cowley, who led the auction, David Bowie created about 47 works between 1995 and 1997, and "DHead XLVI" is one of them, with a canvas size of less than 25 square centimeters, and the faces on the screen have no clear facial features, only faint colors of ivory, pink and cyan. Behind the canvas is Bowie's signature, and the label also bears his name, creation time, and the manufacturers he has worked with.

Cowley revealed that the seller of the lot usually had no interest in collecting the painting, and only thought the painting was beautiful when he bought it. Last November, the seller contacted the auction house, and when the auctioneer saw the label on the back of the painting, they asked Andy Peters, a signature expert, to verify the authenticity. Peters said that as soon as he saw the painting, he knew it was genuine without having to look at the signature on the back, and while Bowie had changed his signature in his 55-year career, each signature contained nuances that the forger could not copy.

According to the auction house staff, when the auction began on the 15th, the starting price of the painting was 4500 Canadian dollars (about 3702 US dollars), and the auction rose to 18,100 Canadian dollars (about 14781 US dollars) in less than a day, exceeding the auction house's estimated 9000-12000 Canadian dollars (about 7389-9851 US dollars).

According to previous reports, Christie's auction house auctioned another signed portrait of David Bowie for $27,500 in December 2018, "D-Head IX", which far exceeded the auction house's estimate of $3,000-5,000.

Born in January 1947 and died in January 2016, David Bowie is not only a rock legend, but also loves art such as painting. He once spoke in an interview with The New York Times in 1998 about his love of art, "Seriously, art is the only thing I really want to have." For me, art gives me a lasting and stable nutrition, so I work in the arts. Art can change my mood in the morning. This job will change me in different ways based on what I've been through." (End)