A Rare David Bowie Self-Portrait — Featuring His Handprints — Is Going on Auction at Sotheby’s

By Ellise Shafer

Ellise Shafer

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A rare David Bowie self-portrait is going on auction at Sotheby’s, featuring the musician and artist’s own handprints.

The 1996 work is part of eight self-portraits Bowie created during a prolific period of painting, all of which were snapped up immediately. Done on paper, the painting emphasizes Bowie’s signature anisocoria and includes two of his actual handprints pressed directly onto the bottom of the composition — making it arguably the closest to a physical trace of the artist a collector could have.

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