Rare Bob Dylan painting from 1968 fetches six-figure fee at auction
A rare Bob Dylan painting sold for $196,156 at a recent auction. The abstract artwork was made around 1968, during Dylan’s reclusive Woodstock years.
Dylan has created several art exhibitions throughout his career. His 1970 album Self Portrait features a self-made painting for the cover, as does the 1974 Planet Waves. The singer-songwriter also crafted the artwork for The Band’s debut album, Music from Big Pink. Furthermore, Dylan has had several books of his art published, and the pieces have routinely been down in retrospective showings.
However, in a recent sale, one piece went for an eye-watering amount. Sized at 24.5 x 30, the painting is described as a “colorful and energetic abstract composition featuring the large central outline of a bull.” The auction house also added, ”The canvas is filled in with captivating abstract shapes and patterns combined with recognizable imagery, including music notes, bow ties, animals, and segmented features.”
RR Auctions also claimed that the piece may serve as a rare self-portrait of the artist during some of his most reclusive years. In the description for the piece, they wrote, “At the top is the red outline of a man in a brimmed hat—mirroring his own style during his Woodstock days (consider the ‘Nashville Skyline’ album cover)”. On the reverse, the painting features a faint signature with some musical notes, undoubtedly adding to the value of the piece.
Painted around 1968, his Woodstock years proved to be some of his most creatively fruitful. As he escaped the hustle and bustle of New York City for a slice of privacy, he’s said to have recorded over 100 songs at his home during that time. This new painting also reveals that he was interested in visual arts during those years, too.
The auction of the painting happened on May 24th, which is coincidentally Bob Dylan’s birthday. The piece sold for a staggering $196,156 at RR Auction. The bidding started at $66,550, eventually reaching nearly $200,000 as fans pushed the price up and up.
However, in the late 1960s, the painting was traded with another Woodstock resident. The auction house wrote, “This remarkable artwork was presented by Dylan to a Woodstock-area resident, Sandy LePanto, in exchange for making an astrology chart.” The painting then remained in the LePanto family before recently being discovered as part of their estate.
Another of Dylan’s paintings made in the 1960s recently sold at an auction for $100,000. However, in general, his artwork has remained largely unshared and mostly unsold. Instead, the public have had glimpses of his visual arts through books like his 1973 publication, Writings and Drawings, his public gallery shows, or his occasional use of his own art for his album artwork.
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