‘Striking and personal’ self-portrait by David Bowie up for auction

A “striking and personal” self-portrait by David Bowie is expected to sell for up to £55,000 after coming to auction for the first time.

Sotheby’s said a self-portrait painted in 1996 by the musician, who died aged 69 on January 10 2016 after an 18-month battle with cancer, will go on sale next week.

The piece was “created during a prolific period of painting in the mid-1990s and belongs to a small group of portrait heads produced at that time”, the auction house said.

After Bowie gifted the piece to his St Ives gallerist, it has remained in the same collection ever since.

It is now predicted to sell for £35,000-£55,000 in Sotheby’s Modern British & Irish Art Day Auction in London on Thursday, October 15.

Sotheby’s described the work, produced on paper, as “one of the most striking and personal self-portraits by David Bowie ever to appear at auction”.

It said the piece not only features Bowie’s own likeness, but two handprints that he pressed directly on to the composition.

Sotheby’s said: “Staring directly out at the viewer, Bowie prominently displays his famously asymmetric eyes, while the handprints in the lower corners create an unusually intimate connection to the artist.

“More than a self-portrait, it’s arguably the closest thing to a physical trace of Bowie himself that a collector could own.”

It added that the work was “particularly noteworthy” as “very little” has been published about Bowie’s painting practice.

Sotheby’s said: “There is no catalogue raisonne or definitive record of this body of work.

“As a result, examples appearing at auction are exceptionally rare.

“In fact, only two Bowie self-portraits have previously come to auction.

“Compared to those works, this piece is remarkably direct in its gaze, more vividly coloured and arguably far more commanding in its presence, making it one of the strongest Bowie self-portraits to emerge publicly to date.”

Bowie’s longtime art adviser and curator Kate Chertavian said: “Though David’s love of the visual arts has been widely celebrated, his life as a painter remains relatively unknown.

“So here we get a rare glimpse of David as a visual artist in his own right.

“I was very much part of his world when he created the series of eight self-portraits to which this work belongs.

“He painted them in London – sometimes at a studio in my house, and sometimes in his hotel rooms.

“He was prolific, producing prints as well as paintings, but these self-portraits are among my favourites – they capture the essence of David.”

Bowie had five number one singles and 11 number one albums in the UK during his lifetime, and is best known for songs such as Space Oddity, Ashes To Ashes and Sound And Vision.

He released his final album, Blackstar, on his 69th birthday, two days before his death in 2016.

It became his first album to reach number one in the US, topped charts in more than 20 countries, and won five Grammy Awards.

Last week it was announced that a series of special events, releases, collaborations and fan experiences had been launched around the world to mark what would have been his 80th birthday on January 8 next year.

Titled Bowie80, organisers say the events will acknowledge how Bowie’s impact can still be “seen, heard and felt across all forms of art and in mainstream and outsider culture spanning both the 20th and 21st centuries”.

Published: 09/10/2026 by Radio NewsHub