Apparently, even in these trying times, people are still willing to spend a lot of money on great art once owned by David Bowie. The New York Times reports that the first day of the Sotheby’s auction of his collection raked in $30.3 million. The items that sold included a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting, “Air Power,” that went for approximately $8.8 million. For an example of just how high the prices are going: The estimate for the Basquiat was in somewhere in the $3 million to $4 million range. Of course, that piece is also imbued with added significance given that Bowie himself appeared in the biopic Basquiat as Andy Warhol. Meanwhile, a Damien Hirst work, “Beautiful, hallo, space-boy painting,” was sold for an amount around $975,000.
As we previously noted, there are some more reasonable—depending on your definition of that word—things up for sale, including a $1000 turntable console. But given the money that’s being doled out, it will probably end up going for way more than that.