Someone Found A Rare Painting By David Bowie At A Random Donation Store In Ontario
It's going up for auction and the estimated value is up to $12,000.
The phrase "one person's junk is another person's treasure" has apparently never been more true.
Among the secondhand goods at a donation centre just south of North Bay, someone found a rare painting by Ziggy Stardust himself, according to a June 11 press release by the Toronto-based auction house Cowley Abbott.
"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," they wrote.
Cowley Abbott thoroughly researched the piece with the help of a David Bowie art and signature specialist in the U.K. and was able to confirm that it truly was the late icon's work and was part of a series he'd painted in the 1990s.
"The chance discovery of this treasure within a pile of unwanted goods is quite remarkable," wrote Cowley Abbott, adding that many people don't know Bowie painted "approximately 45 works on canvas which he titled Dead Heads (or D Heads), each with a different non-sequential Roman Numeral."
The painting in question is called D Head XLVI and was inspired by his Ziggy Stardust era. The auction estimate is anywhere from $9,000 to $12,000 and will be among the pieces featured in Cowley Abbott's Online Auction of International Art from June 15 to 24.