A rare 1996 self-portrait
A rare self-portrait by musician and artist David Bowie is heading to auction at Sotheby’s. Created in 1996, the piece is part of a series of eight self-portraits painted during a prolific period that were snapped up immediately after their creation.
Executed on paper, the painting emphasizes Bowie’s signature anisocoria and features two of the artist’s actual handprints pressed directly onto the bottom of the composition. According to Sotheby’s, the physical inclusion of his handprints makes the work exceptionally close to a physical trace of the artist.
Auction details and provenance
The painting was originally gifted by Bowie to his St. Ives gallerist and is now entering the market for the first time. It is scheduled to be featured in Sotheby’s Modern British and Irish Art Day Auction on Oct. 15, with a pre-sale price estimated between £35,000 and £55,000 ($46,000 to $72,500). The artwork is currently on public view.
Jen Hardie, Sotheby’s director and senior specialist of modern British and Irish art, described the piece as bold, colorful, and direct. Hardie noted that the portrait captures the restless creativity characteristic of the artist’s work, and remarked on the significance of the piece returning to Sotheby’s a decade after the landmark ‘Bowie/Collector’ sale held in 2016.
