David Bowie painting found at thrift store for $5

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RCO

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Valuable David Bowie painting bought for $5 in South River donated goods shop
'The consignor of the painting was astonished upon viewing a label which read 'David Bowie' and realizing it was the signature of the artist inscribed on the reverse'
about 18 hours ago By: Jeff Turl
  • DHead XLVI, a painting by musician David Bowie was bought at a secondhand shop in South River.
  • The back of the painting with Bowie's signature.
  • DHead XLVI, a painting by musician David Bowie was bought at a secondhand shop in South River.
  • The back of the painting with Bowie's signature.
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1 / 2 DHead XLVI, a painting by musician David Bowie was bought at a secondhand shop in South River.Supplied
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  • DHead XLVI, a painting by musician David Bowie was bought at a secondhand shop in South River.
  • The back of the painting with Bowie's signature.
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It's every bargain hunter's dream...paying next to nothing but scoring big time.
That surprising discovery happened last summer in South River, as a painting by deceased music superstar David Bowie was found in a thrift store for household goods. It's now up for auction.
The buyer picked up the treasure, left in a pile of discarded goods, for just $5. The painting is valued at up to $12,000 and is up for auction at Cowley Abbott’s International Art Online Auction from June 15-24.
The painting is titled, D Head XLVI and is a small 9.75 x 8 ins (24.8 x 20.3 cm) acrylic and computer collage on canvas, dated 1997.
"The consignor of the painting was astonished upon viewing a label which read 'David Bowie' and realizing it was the signature of the artist inscribed on the reverse," says Andrea McLoughlin, Cowley Abbott spokeswoman. The painting’s female owner has not been identified.


After conducting thorough research, which included correspondence with a David Bowie art and signature specialist in the United Kingdom, Cowley Abbott was able to confirm that the painting is indeed by the famous artist and part of a series that he completed in the 1990s.
"Many people may not know that Bowie enjoyed painting, and between 1994 and 1997 he created a series of approximately 45 works on canvas which he titled Dead Heads (or D Heads), each with a different non-sequential Roman numeral.," explains McLoughlin. "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."
Paintings by the late music icon are rarely seen at auction, with the most recent sale of artwork from the D Head series fetching $32,000 USD ($38,861CDN) at an auction in the United Kingdom in 2016.
Cowley Abbott will offer D Head XLVI in its upcoming Online Auction of International Art with an auction estimate value of $9,000 - $12,000.

The company is also bringing its Antiques Roadshow-inspired appraisal days – virtually – across Ontario in search of hidden gems that might be worth more than you think. The free virtual consultations happen throughout June and July if you are interested in learning more about an artwork you own and receive an auction valuation.
To set up a valuation you can RSVP for a virtual appointment at info@cowleyabbott.ca.
"With Ontario’s hot cottage real estate market, a generation of Canadian homeowners are downsizing or selling their cottages," adds McLoughlin. "Many have artworks that have been on the walls for years, passed down from parents and grandparents that they know nothing about, and no longer have the space to keep. Buying and selling art can be a daunting process with many unsure of where to start."
Other notable works that have recently come out of cottage country include the record-breaking sale of a painting by celebrated Canadian abstract artist Jack Bush from a home in Muskoka. The painting titled Column on Browns, sold at auction by Colwey Abbott for $870,000 – exceeding the previous artist record by $170,000 – in Dec 2020.

 

RCO

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though this article was interesting , not related to bottles but someone in northern Ontario found a rare david bowie painting at a thrift store for $5 and its going up for auction and maybe go as high as $12,000

they say the hot real estate market is forcing many to move out of older houses which may have older art on the walls and paintings are being sold which were on the walls for years and owners don't know a lot about them


I know my one older aunt is moving and she had a great painting on the wall , showed a very old looking farm house and by a well known local artist but no idea what she's doing with it , no idea what its worth either
 

RCO

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though this article was interesting , not related to bottles but someone in northern Ontario found a rare david bowie painting at a thrift store for $5 and its going up for auction and maybe go as high as $12,000

they say the hot real estate market is forcing many to move out of older houses which may have older art on the walls and paintings are being sold which were on the walls for years and owners don't know a lot about them


I know my one older aunt is moving and she had a great painting on the wall , showed a very old looking farm house and by a well known local artist but no idea what she's doing with it , no idea what its worth either

note - south river is about 20 minutes south of North Bay Ontario , been thru it before but can't picture it even having an thrift stores or similar stores
 

Toma777

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My brother's mother-in-law had some great old Resonance paintings on her wall, things that looked like Bosch paintings. I remember one with a strange looking sea creature. She met some people visiting her church, invited them to stay at her place for the night, and they took the paintings in the middle of the night, along with some other valuables. She had everything insured, and got about 30k, but still you hate to lose things that would be handed down in the family. I would have loved to have that sea creature painting.
 

RCO

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My brother's mother-in-law had some great old Resonance paintings on her wall, things that looked like Bosch paintings. I remember one with a strange looking sea creature. She met some people visiting her church, invited them to stay at her place for the night, and they took the paintings in the middle of the night, along with some other valuables. She had everything insured, and got about 30k, but still you hate to lose things that would be handed down in the family. I would have loved to have that sea creature painting.

I don't know much about the world of art , but does seem that thefts of older more valuable paintings are fairly common . you hear about them on the news every now and then .
 

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David Bowie Painting Found In South River For Just $5 Sells For Over $100,000

By
Kelly Hart
-
June 24, 2021 5:58 pm

https://muskoka411.com/david-bowie-painting-found-in-south-river-for-just-5-sells-for-over-100000/#
David Bowie painting entitled D Head XLVI. The painting is an image of a person's profile with long hair and pale skin. Aside from the pink tones of the skin, the figure is teal with red accents and a blood red background. D Head XLVI, a painting by David Bowie. Image courtesy of Cowley Abbott
https://muskoka411.com/?bsa_pro_id=84&bsa_pro_url=1

A distinctive painting by music icon David Bowie garnered international headlines for its unique discovery and drew a bidding frenzy at Cowley Abbott’s Online Auction of International Art. The much-anticipated auction debut of D Head XLVI, which is part of a series of approximately 45 works on canvas that Bowie titled Dead Heads (or D Heads), sold for more than 10 times the low-end of the auction estimate to a private collector in the United States for CAD $108,120 (inclusive of Buyer’s Premium).
The sale marks a new global auction record for a work by David Bowie, more than doubling the 2016 sale of a D Head series artwork for £22,500 (approximately $39,000 CAD) in the United Kingdom. Within the first hours of Cowley Abbott’s online auction, opening bids for D Head XLVI surpassed the auction estimate of $9,000 to $12,000; and within the first few days, it already set a new record. It continued to garner bids that spiked during the final hours of the auction, drawing more almost 50 bids from across Canada and as far as Australia.
“Our gallery was inundated with calls and interest for the Bowie painting throughout the duration of our Online Auction of International Art. It’s a phenomenon we call the Hollywood Effect, when there is a famous name attached, or when there is an extraordinary set of circumstances such as rarity or human-interest story behind the artwork,” said Rob Cowley, President of Cowley Abbott.


“We’ve seen this effect previously with other artworks Cowley Abbott has sold, including a Maud Lewis painting that set an auction record in 2016, the same year Maudie, the biopic movie about Lewis, starring Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke was released; and with a William Kurelek painting that sold nearly three times its auction estimate for more than $40,000, that was originally gifted by the artist as a thank you for a basket of strudels.”
D Head XLVI was found in the most unexpected place: a donation centre for household goods in South River, just south of North Bay, Ont. The chance discovery of this treasure within a pile of unwanted goods is quite remarkable. The consignor of the painting was astonished upon viewing a label which read “David Bowie” and realizing it was the signature of the artist inscribed on the reverse.
D Head is one of several works of art to recently set an auction record with Cowley Abbott. Another painting also came from northern Ontario from a Muskoka resident – a large-scale canvas by Jack Bush, Column on Browns, that set a new global auction record for the artist, selling for $870,000.
“Valuable art can be found in the most unexpected places, as well as in your own backyard,” says Lydia Abbott, Vice-President of Cowley Abbott. “We often come upon an important work of art that has been inherited or has been in a family home for many years without the owners knowing anything about the artist or value of the work.”
Cowley Abbott is currently accepting consignments for its upcoming auctions of Important Canadian & International Art. Cowley Abbott is an industry leader in the promotion and sale of rare and significant works of art, regularly achieving record prices for their consignors through highly-competitive and all-inclusive commissions. The firm offers confidential and complementary art valuations (virtual or in-person by appointment) to prospective consignors. For more information about Cowley Abbott, upcoming auctions and appraisals, go to CowleyAbbott.ca.

 

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