Where do your talents lie?
Many musicians are also collectible visual artists.
Why shouldn't creative souls find that their mastery in one area of the arts is mirrored in others?
The UK beat, r n b, and blues booms of the 1960s were born in art schools.
And many who picked up a guitar with their new mates never quite put down their paint brushes.
Whether that’s always a good idea is up for debate.
What isn’t disputed is that artworks by top musicians can be an excellent collectibles investment.
Here are 7 musicians whose visual artworks are collectible and perhaps noteworthy.
1 - John Lennon
Fat Budgie by John Lennon is a good example of his style.
To start with the most well-known musical visual artist, John Lennon spent three-years at Liverpool Institute on an art course.
The extent to which he “studied” the subject might be reflected in his expulsion from the school. But John was an instinctive and unruly artist who continued to produce pictures throughout his life.
He met his first wife, Cynthia Powell, at the art school and his soulmate, Yoko Ono, is one of the most distinguished conceptual artists of her generation.
John’s fast-cutting brain means much of his artwork was quickly put together and his most typical style is a rather scribbly black-ink sketch. His two books, A Spaniard in the Works, and In His Own Write captured it well.
Anything to do with The Beatles is very collectible and - with the right proof, provenance and condition - likely to be valuable. There’s a thriving industry in prints too, so make sure you’re clear what you’re buying.
Signed Lennon art can make big money, with sketches realising 10s or 100s of thousands of pounds. His most valuable piece - an illustration from his Sherlock Holmes parody, The Singular Experience of Miss Anne Duffield - realised $209,000 at auction.
His great friend - and sometime band-mate - Stuart Sutcliffe was a better artist than John and his work is also sold at auction for 10s of thousands of pounds.
2 - Tony Bennett
Central Park in Tony Bennett's native New York is a great subject for him.
There’s a major Tony Bennett sale coming up and his artwork is a big part of it.
Tony grew up among struggling Italian-American immigrants in depression-era New York. He did get some art education, but had to quit at 16 to start bringing money in.
A successful singing career enabled him to return to that early passion later in life.
He’s said to have sketched or painted every day and there’s a lot of his work about. It’s most often credited to Benedetto, his real surname.
You can buy works that range from quick drawings to fully developed pieces. He was great friends with David Hockney and perhaps that’s a good guide to his style, though over many decades he certainly evolved.
Opening bids on paintings in the most recent sale begin in the thousands of dollars.
As with most musician/artists works that reflect on or relate to Bennett’s main artistic arena are likely to have extra value.
3 - Ronnie Wood
Painting fellow musicians, like The Who here, is a smart business move.
The Rolling Stone guitarist is the very definition of a grizzled 60s British rock veteran.
And that includes a spell at Ealing Art College.
Wood’s yen for paints and brushes was inspired when his submitted drawings were shown on a BBC show. In 2023 it was reported that he made a £1 million-plus profit from his painting sideline.
Not bad.
Ronnie has produced many styles of art: landscapes, portraits, figurative, abstract. He owns his own gallery, sells prints and original works online, and seems still to be working now.
Bought directly from the artist you can expect to pay over £1,000 for prints. In 2013 he offered a painting of the Stones for £300,000.
4 - Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan's 2019 Hotel at Night shows his love for Americana.
Bob’s first well-known publicly published painting is probably the cover art for Music from the Big Pink, the Band’s 1968 album.
It was primitive. And deliberately so.
Since then, Bob has continued to produce art and continued to follow his own path.
And art has become a profitable sideline for him. In 2021 and 2022 an exhibition of nearly 200 of his works toured internationally.
There was a minor scandal when the Nobel laureate apologised for using an autopen to sign some art prints. He blamed the Covid lockdowns.
There’s a reminder to check you’re up on your authenticity checks.
If you can get original authentic Dylan work then prices can be good.
“Abstract nude” made $100,000 at auction in 2022. A year earlier a 1976 print made $32,000.
Bob’s still with us and still working. When he stops, for whatever reason, you should expect prices to rocket.
5 - David Bowie
Pianist Mike Garson captured by his friend and collaborator David Bowie.
Perhaps the least surprising name on this list is Bowie's.
No pop star has worn more costumes and been more, well, arty.
The best price for a Bowie original was nearly $1 million. You may recognise the title of Beautifuli Halo, Space Boy, which was auctioned for that sum in 2016.
Bowie took his painting seriously, and is said to show the influences of Frank Auerbach, Francis Bacon, and David Bomberg.
He was experimental too, and used high-tech in his image making.
Of all the artists in this list, Bowie is one who looks most like the real deal to my untrained eye.
Buying rock star art now
Wouldn't you love to own this archetypically Lennon work?
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