The Bowie Painting that was Found in a Landfill
Words by Nicole Fairey
Earlier this month a rare painting by David Bowie was found by luck in a landfill in Canada. For anyone who has seen Antiques Roadshow, or even the highlight clips that circulate social media it is clear that treasures long forgotten can often achieve mind-blowing prices.
While David Bowie is most well known for his music career, particularly performing as the character Ziggy Stardust he was also a prolific art collector as well as an artist himself. Bowie has been quoted as saying, “Art was, seriously, the only thing I’d ever wanted to own.” and that art is the only thing he bought obsessively and addictively. His eclectic collection included pieces by Damien Hirst, Henry Moore and Jean-Michel Basquiat and in 2016 was valued at over £10m. His own work was often abstract portraiture with many being of band-members and other music acquaintances, or even self-portraits.
Portrait of David Bowie
In this particular instance someone stumbled upon the painting for sale at a landfill donation centre. Purchased for only C$5 (£3) the painting had a simple label on the back clearly identifying the work to be by the legendary musician. The new owner did some preliminary internet research and then a few months later made an inquiry with an auction house on the off chance that it could be authentic, they admitted to not knowing much about art but $5 for a pretty painting is reasonable price.
The Bowie painting found in landfill, measuring 9.75 x 8 inches on canvas
Upon viewing the work Rob Cowley of Cowley Fine Arts in Toronto confirmed, "we were able to identify the fact that the work was quite similar to many of the portraits, these smaller-type portraits from this series that Bowie had produced in the mid-'90s." It’s clear Bowie’s distinctive signature is inscribed on the back of the canvas, alongside the date 1997 and a label from a London framing company that worked for Bowie and other famous musicians before it went out of business. The auction listing on Cowley’s site reads: Between 1995 and 1997 Bowie created a series of works which he entitled Dead Heads (or D Head). Each title included a Roman numeral. The sitters ranged from band members, friends and acquaintances and there were also some self-portraits. It has been suggested that, for some of these important paintings, Bowie drew inspiration from the Ziggy Stardust era. With long hair and a pronounced profile, this energetic and enigmatic portrait is truly a rare representation from a celebrated artist.
Example of an authentic Bowie painting
With art professionals aware now more than ever of misattributing works or falling for forged pieces, despite his instincts Cowley sought a second opinion, "we also reached out to Andy Peters, who is recognised as an expert in David Bowie's signature and also has a great familiarity with his artwork as well...he quite enthusiastically, and quite quickly, came back to us...and was able to say that, yes, it is an authentic work by the artist."
David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust
Andy Peters explained that, “the confusion lies in that [Bowie] changed his signature so much during his 55-year career, but there are certain nuances in every single autograph that forgers cannot replicate.” Nevertheless, Peters said “when I first saw the painting, I knew what it was straight away. I did not need to see the autograph on the back because I knew, but obviously the signature sealed the deal.”
At the time of writing this piece the auction of this piece is due to close in 8 hours and the bidding is up to C$75,100.00 (£43,000.00) despite the initial prediction of C$12,000.00 (£7,000.00).
Bowie performing onstage
