David Bowie’s art collection to sell

– Hundreds of pieces of art collected by late rock legend David Bowie went on display yesterday in New York ahead of an auction, including works by modern greats Jean-Michel Basquiat and Damien Hirst.

Bowie, who died in January, avidly followed the art world but was discreet about his buying.

“His attitude to collecting represents his attitude on music-making – he was not afraid to look at things outside the mainstream,” said Simon Hucker of Sotheby’s, which is running the auction.

In the ’90s Bowie was on the editorial board of the magazine Modern Painters and would occasionally write articles. “He would interview artists he thought were good, but on the whole he was very private about his art collecting.”

The piece on the auction expected to earn the most – at $3.3 (R45 million) to $4.6 million – is Air Power by Basquiat. – AFP