A rare self-portrait by iconic pop star and performer David Bowie is heading for auction later this month.
The artwork, entitled ‘Head of D.B’, will be offered as part of the Auctionata sale ‘Collect Now – Post-War & Contemporary Art’, which takes place in Berlin on June 30.
The work comes with an estimate of around €14,000 ($15,800), but could fetch a far higher price following Bowie’s death earlier this year.
The charcoal and pastel artwork was created in 1994, and was one of two self-portraits included in Bowie’s 1995 London art exhibition ‘New Afro/Pagan and Work: 1975-1995’ at the Gallery in Cork Street.
In an introduction to the exhibition, Bowie wrote:
"In neither music nor art have I a real style, craft or technique. I just plummet through, on either a wave of euphoria or mind-splintering dejection. This can often all be held together by a bloody-minded determination to create something that was not there before. It probably comes from the need to have seen it all."
Throughout his career Bowie proved himself the master of reinvention, and he produced countless self-portraits over the years, which reflected the changing nature of his stage persona.
However, he was also notoriously protective of his own memorabilia, retaining most of his artworks, handwritten lyrics, costumes and instruments for his own personal archive.
Bowie artworks rarely appear on the open market, and those that do can fetch large sums at auction.
In March this year, another of Bowie’s artworks came up for sale at Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh. Entitled ‘DHead’ and dating from 1997, the artwork soared above its pre-sale estimate of £3,000 – £5,000 to sell for a stunning £22,500 ($32,060).
