Entertainment
C$5 Purchase Turns Into C$108,120 Bowie Painting Sale
A shopper in South River, Ontario, bought a small canvas for C$5 at a donation centre linked to the Machar Township landfill. The 9.75‑by‑8‑inch acrylic and computer collage on canvas, later identified as David Bowie’s DHead XLVI, was found to bear Bowie's name, signature and the date 1997 on the reverse. The authenticity was confirmed by experts, including Bowie specialist Andy Peters, and the work was listed by auction house Cowley Abbott. The painting, part of Bowie’s Dead Heads series created between 1995 and 1997, was auctioned in June 2021 with an initial estimate of C$9,000 to C$12,000. It sold for C$108,120, including buyer’s premium, nearly ten times the high estimate and setting a new auction record for a Bowie artwork at that time. The story highlights how a seemingly ordinary donation‑centre find can become a significant art discovery when its provenance is uncovered.