Bowie sale smashes expectations
Buyers have snapped up modern artworks collected by David Bowie, with a painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat selling for $8.8 million at a London auction.
The first part of Sotheby’s two-day Bowie sale Thursday netted $30.3 million, more than double its upper presale estimate.
The musician, who died in January at age 69, was a passionate collector of contemporary and modern art.
The top lot, Basquiat’s “Air Power,” sold for $8.8 million. Another, untitled Basquiat sold for $3 million.
Bowie played Andy Warhol in “Basquiat,” Julian Schnabel’s 1996 biopic of the American artist.
Frank Auerbach’s painting “Head of Gerda Boehm” sold for $4.7 million, 10 times its estimate and a record for the British artist.
A “spin” painting by British artist Damien Hirst, created with Bowie’s help, sold for $939,000.
Sotheby’s said Thursday’s auction was a “white glove sale,” meaning every lot was sold. Bids came from 46 countries.
Oliver Barker, deputy chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, said “the market totally responded to David Bowie and this wonderful collection that he put together.”
More of Bowie’s collection was due to be auctioned Friday.
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