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Brian Duffy (1933-2010); David Bowie, 'Scary Monsters' Album Cover (Smoking #1); image 1
Brian Duffy (1933-2010); David Bowie, 'Scary Monsters' Album Cover (Smoking #1); image 2
Lot 121

Brian Duffy
(1933-2010)
David Bowie, 'Scary Monsters' Album Cover (Smoking #1)

7 – 17 July 2025, 12:00 EDT
Online, New York

US$4,000 - US$6,000

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Brian Duffy (1933-2010)

David Bowie, 'Scary Monsters' Album Cover (Smoking #1), 1980
Archival pigment print, printed later; signed in ink and the photographer's archive blindstamp in the margin, mounted, framed.
40 1/4 x 40 in. (102.2 x 101.6 cm.)
sheet 46 1/2 x 46 in. (118.1 x 116.8 cm.)

Footnotes

Provenance
Private Collection, Los Angeles
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2024

Note
Brian Duffy and David Bowie collaborated on five significant projects throughout the 1970s, beginning with the album cover for 'Aladdin Sane' (1973) – considered one of the most iconic images in rock-and-roll history – and culminating in the shoot for 'Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)' (1980). It was during that final session that the present image was made: a dramatically staged Bowie, clad in a 'Pierrot' costume designed by Natasha Korniloff, is cast in stark floodlight as he smokes a cigarette while his shadow creeps up the wall behind him. A slight variant of this photograph was ultimately used by artist Edward Bell to create the collage that adorns the album cover.

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