David Bowie With His 1976 Painting of Iggy Pop (Portrait of J.O.) in 1990

David Bowie photographed by Ron Galella with his painting “Portrait of J.O.” at Eduard Nakhamkin Fine Arts Gallery in New York City, November 27, 1990. J.O. is James Osterberg, the real name of Iggy Pop.

David Bowie was an English singer and songwriter who released his debut album in 1967. Throughout his musical career, he released numerous critically acclaimed albums, including The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and Scary Monsters. In addition to his music, Bowie was also an actor who appeared in films such as Labyrinth, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Zoolander, and The Prestige. He also had a successful career as a visual artist, creating paintings and pieces of art. He died on January 10, 2016, at the age of 69.

David Bowie was questioned how he rated his acting skills in movies and he said that he really didn’t care much about it, he was more interesting in other art forms: “I don’t care about my acting, I don’t enjoy my acting. I suffer when I’m making a movie because it’s so boring. I have no ambitions in movies whatsoever, none. It’s not a priority of mine. My priorities are making art, either painting or sculpting and making music. Those are the two things.”

Bowie first began experimenting with art as a teenager and his work was shown publicly for the first time in 1963 as part of an exhibition called “Loan Exhibition of Young Artists” at the Philomel Gallery in London. In the 1970s, he became a successful celebrity and was able to get his art exhibited in major galleries around the world. Although he had no formal training in art, Bowie worked with a number of high-profile art dealers, including Joseph Musaphia, who exhibited his work in the “David Bowie Is” show at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2013. Bowie also worked with other artists and even created pieces for other people. In 1996, he designed the set for the play “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” which was produced by the New York Theatre Workshop.

Bowie’s interest in art began during his teenage years when he experimented with painting and drawing. However, he found little time to continue these hobbies during his rise to fame in the 1960s and 1970s. It wasn’t until the 1990s that he seriously picked up his brushes again, continuing to paint right up until his death in 2016.

Although there is no one clear reason as to why Bowie became an artist later in his life, it’s likely that he was motivated by a combination of nostalgia, artistic expression, and boredom. During the 1990s, Bowie found himself at a loose end. After the release of his album Outside, he had no plans to tour, and he said he was “just marking time really.” The break he decided to take from his prolific career in music may have been what drove him back to art, where he could express himself without having to write songs or record albums.

David Bowie also collected art. In fact, he was a true connoisseur. His taste was eclectic, but he had a particular penchant for British artists from the early 20th century. He once said that his favorite artist was Graham Sutherland, and he also loved the work of Francis Bacon and Henry Moore.

Talking with The New York Times back in 1988, David Bowie revealed that he started collecting art when he still was in art school. “Yeah, I collected very early on. I have a couple of Tintorettos, which I’ve had for many, many years. I have a Rubens. Art was, seriously, the only thing I’d ever wanted to own. It has always been for me a stable nourishment. I use it. It can change the way that I feel in the mornings. The same work can change me in different ways, depending on what I’m going through.”

Bowie’s collection wasn’t just limited to paintings, either. He also had an impressive collection of sculptures, which included works by Moore and Barbara Hepworth. He was also a big fan of Marcel Duchamp and owned several of his famous ready-mades. In addition to being a collector, Bowie was also a generous patron of the arts. He supported many young artists during his lifetime and helped to promote British art on the international stage.

Bowie’s love of art was evident in his own work, which often drew on elements of surrealism, Dadaism and pop art. He was a true original, and his influence on the art world is still felt today.