Sleep Sound, an 18 x 24in oil on canvas created in 1955, has been valued at £180,000 and will be sold with 400 items from Bowie’s art collection in London on November 11.
The picture last appeared on the market in 1993 when it was bought by Bowie at Sotheby’s for £45,500. It depicts ‘two figures lying on a moor beneath a heavy sky’, according to catalogue notes.
The Irish Times reports that the rock star’s ownership of a Yeats painting will surprise the market, as Bowie the art collector was best known for buying Modern and Contemporary works.
Yeats’ works appear regularly for sale and fetch a range of prices. A 9 x 14in oil on board, By Drumcliff Strand Long Ago, sold at Adam’s June 1 sale for £61,540.
‘Bowie/Collector’ comprises a separate section of Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary Art auction on November 11.
The Bowie collection will be exhibited at Sotheby’s New Bond Street headquarters from November 1-10 after going on tour to Los Angeles, New York and Hong Kong.
