David Bowie’s Iconic Aladdin Sane Album Art Could Fetch $400,000
David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane album cover is one of pop music’s most iconic images. Now, it’s expected to set a new record at an upcoming auction.
Rock star David Bowie knew the power of an image. So did Brian Duffy (1933-2010), one of the defining photographers of the 1960s Swinging London scene. When they worked together, it was lightning in a bottle—almost literally. Their nine-year collaboration began in 1973 with the Aladdin Sane album cover, whose photograph of Bowie with a vivid red and blue lightning bolt drawn on his face is an indelible part of the legacy of both artists. Duffy’s original art print for the album cover, the “Mona Lisa of Pop,” is expected to break the record price for album art at an upcoming Bonhams auction.
The online auction, “Mona Lisa of Pop: Property From The Duffy Archive,” will be held by Bonhams London from October 22 to November 5. The Aladdin Sane album art, a 15 1/2-by-12 1/2-inch dye transfer print signed “Duffy ’73,” has a presale estimate of £250,000 to £300,000, or $340,000 to $400,000. The current auction record for album cover art was set by George Hardie’s 1969 stipple tracing of the Hindenburg for Led Zeppelin’s debut LP. The artwork sold for $325,000 at a Christie’s online auction in June 2020.
Other lots in the Bonhams auction consist of items from the Duffy archive, including contact sheets from the 1980 photo shoot for Bowie’s album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), a handwritten note from Duffy, his Hasselblad 500C camera, and even the wooden stool that Bowie sat on for the Aladdin Sane photo shoot. This is the first time any of these items have come to auction.
In a press release, Claire Tole-Moir, Head of Bonhams’ Popular Culture Department, commented, “From the iconic album cover artworks to the actual cameras used, each piece has a story to tell. These items have been widely exhibited around the world, and with the David Bowie Centre opening at V&A East this September, this timely auction will be a rare and thrilling opportunity for collectors and fans to own a piece of Duffy / Bowie history.”
Chris Duffy, the photographer’s son and Founder and Managing Director of the Duffy Archive, and a photographer himself, agrees: "The works in the sale at Bonhams have been exhibited worldwide in museums and galleries. At this key moment of recognition for the iconic Duffy/Bowie collaboration, I feel it’s right that a small but significant part of the Duffy Archive collection is available for many to share in this legacy.”
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