David Bowie’s Album Cover Photo Sells for Record $496,000 at Auction

The iconic photograph used for the cover of David Bowie’s record Aladdin Sane has become the most expensive album artwork ever sold at auction.

The image, captured by the late British photographer Brian Duffy for Bowie’s seminal 1973 album Aladdin Sane, sold for $496,000 (£380,000) at Bonhams London on November 5. The sale established new auction records both for album cover art and for Duffy’s work.

The result surpasses the previous sale record of $325,000 set in 2020 for the image used on the cover of Led Zeppelin’s eponymous debut album. In the cover artwork for the 1969 album Led Zepellin, artist George Hardie reimagined Sam Shere’s photograph of the 1937 Hindenburg disaster.

Duffy’s portrait of Bowie for Aladdin Sane has long been regarded as one of the most enduring and recognizable images in music history. In the photo, Bowie’s face is painted with a red and blue lightning bolt by make-up artist Pierre La Roche and set against a stark white background. The singer also sports vividly rouged cheeks, lips, and eyelids to create a portrait that came to define the glam rock era.

Brian Duffy — who was one of the most influential photographers of the 1960s — was commissioned for the shoot by Bowie’s manager Tony Defries, who wanted a high-impact album cover for the singer. The London studio photo shoot took place in 1973 and would be one of five collaborations between Duffy and Bowie over nine years — which also produced the covers for Lodger and Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps).

The lightning bolt applied by La Roche was Duffy’s concept. Meanwhile, airbrush artist Philip Castle later added a single painted teardrop on Bowie’s clavicle to complete Aladdin Sane’s artwork. Duffy and Castle had previously collaborated on the 1973 Pirelli Calendar. According to a press release by Bonhams London, for the album cover print, Duffy opted for a Kodak process called dye transfer, which produced a greater depth of colour and the right kind of surface for airbrushing.

The print formed the centrepiece of Bonhams London’s sale “The Mona Lisa of Pop: The Duffy Archive” which ran online from October 22 to November 5. The auction also included original contact sheets and the stool used during the Aladdin Sane shoot. The print had been estimated to fetch between £250,000 and £300,000.

“The cover of David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane is a truly iconic image by Duffy,” Claire Tole-Moir, Head of Bonhams’ Popular Culture Department, says in a statement. “It represents a landmark album by Bowie and a pivotal moment in pop culture history. We are delighted that its significance has been recognised today with a new world record price achieved at Bonhams.”

Chris Duffy, the photographer’s son and Managing Director of the Duffy Archive, adds: “Duffy would be honoured to know that, 15 years after his passing, the ‘Mona Lisa of Pop’ has achieved a world record and cemented its position as a cultural icon.”