A collection of about 400 works in David Bowie’s personal art collection is on view at Sotheby’s auction house in London before being sold at auction in November.
Bowie, who died in January, was an avid art collector and liked to partake of the local art scene during his tours and travels. The works he collected and saw inspired some of his musical creativity, and he even created some art himself. He had gone to art school, according to friend William Boyd, Weekend Collective reported.
The rock icon said of British painter Frank Auerbach’s work in The New York Times in 1998, “I want to sound like that looks,” Forbes reported. Several of Auerbach’s works are up for auction, but the most valuable piece in the collection is Jean-Michel Basquiat’s “Air Power,” valued at $3 million to $4 million.
About half of Bowie’s collection is 20th-century contemporary British art, and the rest is divided between outsider, surrealism, contemporary African art, and postmodern pieces.
Besides painting, Bowie also served on the board of Modern Painters magazine and started an art book publishing company, 21. He met pop artist Andy Warhol and later played him in the 1996 film “Basquiat.”
Some other people had input into his collection, but Bowie led the way in deciding what interested him and thoroughly researching each piece and artist as well as the cultural, social, and political history of the artwork’s time period.
The diverse collection varies greatly in price, from just a few hundred pounds up to millions. One memorable piece is Bowie’s 1960s record player, which was designed by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, which is slated to sell for only about 1,000 pounds ($1,300) or so.
The auction takes place in three parts on Nov. 10 and 11.
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