The eclectic private collection of the late musician David Bowie, beloved provocateur and innovator of everything from politics and psychedelic rock to glitter and avant-garde catsuits, is unveiled for the first time.
As the final stop of a touring exhibition before the auction on November 10–11, Sotheby’s New Bond Street will host an outstanding variety of more than 350 works, which include a unique ‘spin painting’ completed by the Thin White Duke in collaboration with Damien Hirst and a Renaissance altarpiece by Tintoretto.
There are also paintings ranging from German expressionism to 20th-century British (think Stanley Spencer and Frank Auerbach), Surrealist pieces (Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray) and works created in the aftermath of the first democratic elections in South Africa, plus a pleasant jumble of objects from teapots and typewriters to clocks and stereo cabinets.
The Sotheby’s exhibition, ‘Bowie/Collector’, is open from November 1 to 10 at its New Bond Street, London W1, premises. There will be three days of talks and events (November 4–6), including a midnight film screening on Friday, November 6, when the galleries will be open to the public all night long, before the collection is auctioned.
‘His life as an art collector was something he kept almost entirely hidden from public view,’ says a Sotheby’s spokesman. ‘Now, for the first time, this little-known side of Bowie will be fully revealed.’
Visit www.sothebys.com/bowiecollector for further information.
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