David Bowie

David Bowie‘s private art collection is set to be auctioned off to the public at Sotheby’s in London in November. Bowie made quite a mark in the art scenes of London, Berlin and New York but much of his artistic taste and collections have been kept private until now. This auction will be a fascinating peek into the Star Man’s secret life.

The collection boasts around 400 classic pieces from arguably the most important British artists of the 1900s. One of the pieces includes Sleep Sounds by Jack Butler Yeats. The painting was completed in 1955 and is valued at up to $210,000.

Bowie bought this oil-on-canvas masterpiece in 1993 for £45,500, equating to about $79,000. 

David’s tastes weren’t exclusively limited to 20th century British artists though, he also took a keen interest in contemporary African art, designs by Ettore Sottsass and even self taught artists.

Another fantastic piece up for auction is Damien Hirst’s Beautiful, shattering, slashing, violent, pinky, hacking, sphincter painting. Birthed in 1995, the piece is a prime example of Hirst’s iconic Spin Collection.

In an interview with NY Times Bowie stated, “He’s different. I think his work is extremely emotional, subjective, very tied up with his own personal fears – his fear of death is very strong – and I find his pieces moving and not at all flippant.” With an estimated value of £250,000–350,000, you’d like to hope so.

Hirst and Bowie were so creatively in line, they even collaborated on a piece called Beautiful, Hello, Space Boy Painting. Bowie explained the process in an interview. “We did some paintings together. We took a big round canvas, about 12-foot, and it’s on a machine that spins it around at about 20 miles an hour, and we stand on the top of step-ladders and throw paint at it.. It’s from a child’s game; you drop paint on and centrifugal force pushes the stuff out.”

Financially speaking, the most valuable painting of the collection would have to be Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Air Power from 1984.

This piece is worth an estimated £2,500,000–3,500,000, equivalent to between $4.3 and $6 million.

It comes as no shock to find an extremely trendy and unconventional Italian Radiophonograph among the mix. Hipsters will rejoice in knowing that the estimated value of this ancient iPod is only £800–1,200. Of course, being a part of Bowie’s personal collection is guaranteed to make the actual sale price skyrocket.

Romuald Hazoumè is an integral part of the Contemporary African movement. His piece entitled Alexandra was the one that really caught Bowie’s eye. Hazoumè links art history with the history of colonialism in Africa by collecting everyday objects and arranging them in a way that expresses this connection. Alexandra is estimated to be worth between £5,000–7,000.

Before the auction, the collection will be featured at Sotheby’s New Bond Street galleries in London at the beginning of November. For more information visit Sotheby’s website.

Image: PopMatters

David Bowie will forever have a special connection with the city of Berlin. That connection has now been formally recognised by the city itself, with mayor Michael Muller unveiling a new plaque in commemoration to the musician this morning, Associated Press reports.

The plaque was erected outside the apartment where Bowie lived between 1976-1978 in the suburb of Schonegerg, an area which, despite now being the location of generic businesses including a dental practice, turned into a shrine in the subsequent weeks following his death in January of this year.

An artistic hub of new and bold ideas throughout the latter stages of the Cold War, Bowie famously moved to the divided city in 1976 with Iggy Pop and spent the next few years expanding his creative palate and overcoming substance abuse.

From a musical point of view, Bowie’s time in the city produced arguably some of his finest work in the form of the Berlin Trilogy of albums: Low (1977), Heroes (1977) and Lodger (1979). 

The former two albums were recorded in the city itself, and whilst Lodger was recorded in Switzerland, the content still represents the period of growth Bowie experienced in the city. The plaque quotes the song Heroes, with the line “We can be heroes, just for one day” etched into memory forever.

Bowie himself has noted that the song was inspired by seeing his producer at the time Tony Visconti kiss his girlfriend against the Berlin Wall. Watch Ewan McGregor perform a stunning rendition of the song here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tgcc5V9Hu3g

Image in piece: Pitchfork

Image thumbnail: Electronic Beats

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Nicolas Roeg’s sci-fi production The Man Who Fell To Earth, the film is set to revisit theatres across the UK. As the first film to star David Bowie in a leading role, the showings will be doubly poignant following the icon’s death earlier this year.

Based on Walter Tevis’ 1963 novel of the same name, The Man Who Fell To Earth sees Bowie take the role of an alien seeking to save his drought ridden planet, as he crash lands onto Earth. Bowie was joined by other Hollywood names like Candy Clark and Rip Torn, and the film acquired a cult following and status. Bowie received the Saturn Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film, and his character as the humanoid extraterrestrial Thomas Jerome Newton has been incorporated into the vast lexicon of Bowie’s personas.

Ahead of the release, the original film has undergone some restoration at the hands of London based post-production company Deluxe Digital. Scans of the original negatives have undergone a 4K restoration by Deluxe, helping the decades old film stand up to modern cinema standards. The film’s original cinematographer, Anthony Richmond, approved the restoration work.

The film will open in UK theatres on September 9, and two new posters have been produced ahead of the release.

Image: The Dissolve

In an interesting but somewhat expected turn of events, the late David Bowie‘s close friend and producer Tony Visconti has come out saying that “great” unreleased material is likely to be released in the near future.

Speaking to the Evening Standard, Visconti revealed he is in talks with Bowie’s management to unearth the songs that were recorded but never released. Amongst these, Visconti claims five songs were recently recorded and intended for a follow-up album to Bowie’s final release Blackstar.

“I haven’t heard those songs yet,” Visconti told the Standard,”I have an idea where he might have recorded them, but there is also a lot of unreleased material from many albums.”

Visconti worked with Bowie on a number of albums from 1969 right up to his final project in 2016, with some of these being the self titled, 1969 David Bowie, the ground breaking Heroes, and the final album and emotional Blackstar.

“I think it’s logical that over the next few years you’re going to hear a lot of stuff that you haven’t heard before. I’m in talks with his management and his label – there’s going to be some great Bowie stuff coming out.”

Unreleased Bowie tunes are set to be featured in BBC4’s documentary The People’s History Of Pop, with presenter Danny Baker tweeting that he had once heard an alternate version of Space Oddity, as well as Bowie’s interpretation of My Way, which is said to have inspired Life On Mars. A BBC spokeswoman later confirmed this to NME, saying, “The programme is still being made, but we can confirm that there will be some rare and special Bowie material in it”

Whether you believe in keeping Bowie’s unreleased work untouched and locked away or not, it will definitely be interesting to see what gets found in the years to come.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JiCPJ1mlRw

Image: NY Times

In this modern age, you never know what things could be trending at any given point.

One day it could be tipping ice over your head, the next, flipping water bottles for school talent shows.

Thankfully, there are times when things of beauty break through the confusing, chaotic dialogue of cyberspace. In the months since the death of musical hero David Bowie, tributes have continuously poured out across the globe, with music, trivia, long-lost photos and beautiful stories emerging from friends, collaborators and beyond. Learning about the meaning behind crucial songs in an artist’s repertoire is often a beautiful experience, and today we’re looking at the meaning behind Bowie’s The Man Who Sold The World.

In his book The Words and Music of David Bowie, author James Perone notes that the song deals with the theme of rejection from the wider community.

“Bowie encounters the title character, but it is not clear just what the phrase means, or exactly who this man is. … The main thing that the song does is to paint – however elusively – the title character as another example of the societal outcasts who populate the album.”

When Bowie himself was asked about the meaning behind the song, he noted that “for me….it exemplified how you feel when you’re young, and you know there is a piece of yourself that you haven’t really figured out together yet…this great need to find out who you really are.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSH–SJKVQQ

Bowie originally released the song in 1970 as the title track to his third album, with the song seeing rejuvenation twice due to covers by other artists.

Lulu‘s cover of the song in 1974 reached number 3 on the UK charts, while Nirvana‘s famous version, performed for their legendary MTV Unplugged introduced the song to a younger generation in 1993.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fregObNcHC8

The simple fact that after 40 years the song is still inspiring so much discussion and debate proves that Bowie’s legacy will last for many years to come.

Image: avhstalon

David Bowie‘s music touched so many people, we’re not surprised about this record-breaking sell by Discogs. According to Discogs’ blog, Bowie’s self-titled album, his second during his career, sold for US$6826 (that’s over 4000 pounds, or over AU$9000) two months after he passed away.

It’s true to say that it’s not uncommon for an artist’s record sales to rise after their death, just as Prince shot to the top of the Billboard charts just after his passing. It is almost like a personal tribute to the artist from a loyal fan.

“I know that we’ve all been tripping over ourselves to praise Bowie since his passing. The last thing anybody needs is another voice in the choir of exaltation. But Bowie’s music moves me deeply. He meant a great deal to his fans. This sale is, itself, a kind of beautiful tribute to what he still means to people,” the blog writer says.

They continue, leaving the identity of the lucky buyer in the shadows. “I’m not sure where this expensive record is going. I don’t know who is looking after it now. But I hope, wherever it is, it’s being treasured in whatever way the buyer finds appropriate.”

In other news, it was announced that Bowie was also going to have a role in the series revival of Twin Peaks. After playing the role of Agent Phillip Jeffries in the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me back in 1992, his character was set to make a comeback in the series reboot next year. It’s sad to think of what could have been.

Check out these touching covers of Space Oddity by Miguel and Lido.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYMCLz5PQVw

Image: NY Times