Shopper’s C$5 thrift-store painting turns out to be a David Bowie original, sells for C$108,120

Photo: cowley abbott/ Instagram In 2020, a shopper browsing a household goods donation centre in South River, Ontario, spotted a small painting tucked among discarded items and paid just C$5 for it. The buyer soon noticed a label on the reverse reading David Bowie and contacted auction house Cowley Abbott to investigate. After research and correspondence with a Bowie specialist in the UK, experts confirmed the work as an original from the musician's Dead Heads series, and in June 2021 it sold at auction for C$108,120, setting a new global record for a David Bowie artwork, according to a post on Cowleyabbott.ca. Read on to know more here:From a donation bin to a global auctionThe painting, titled D Head XLVI, was found in the most unexpected of places, a donation centre for household goods in Northern Ontario. The consignor was astonished to see the label bearing Bowie's name and realised that the signature on the reverse was that of the artist himself.What began as a casual purchase for just C$5 quickly became a story that captured the attention of collectors and media outlets around the world. Cowley Abbott performed due diligence before listing the work, including direct correspo...