Apart from two books explicitly on Bowie—the exhibition catalogue for 2013’s David Bowie Is exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Denis O’Regan photo book David Bowie’s Serious Moonlight: The World Tour—there are quite a number of Watson titles that relate to Bowie in less obvious ways.

We all know that David Bowie, who passed away two years ago yesterday, left an indelible impression on the music world. But did you know that Bowie’s other great passion was art? He exhibited his own paintings and once even stated: “Art was, seriously, the only thing I’d ever wanted to own.” Being a fan who also happens to work in an art library, researching Bowie’s art-history influences was the intriguing (if overwhelming) project I had always dreamed of undertaking—and one that led to even more discoveries than initially expected.

Apart from two books explicitly on Bowie—the exhibition catalogue for 2013’s David Bowie Is exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Denis O’Regan photo book David Bowie’s Serious Moonlight: The World Tour—there are quite a number of Watson titles that relate to Bowie in less obvious ways.

Joe the lion / Went to the bar / A couple of drinks on the house and he said “Tell you who you are if you nail me to my car”

These are the opening lines to “Joe the Lion,” a song from Bowie’s 1977 album Heroes. The lyrics are intended as an homage to performance artist Chris Burden and his 1974 piece Trans-Fixed, wherein Burden actually nailed himself to a car. In another verse, reference is made to the Shoot performance, in which Burden was shot by a professional marksman in a gallery. (Information on these pieces, as well as Burden’s other performance and non-performance art work, can be found via a keyword search in Watsonline.)

Heroes was part of Bowie’s famed “Berlin trilogy,” a period when he recorded three of his most innovative works—the other two being Low (1977) and Lodger (1979)—while living in the bohemian city. During this time, Bowie frequented the Brücke-Museum and studied works by notable Die Brücke artists such as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Erich Heckel. The contorted physicality in the latter’s painting Roquairol (1917) even inspired Heroes’ iconic and enigmatic album cover.

These are the opening lines to “Joe the Lion,” a song from Bowie’s 1977 album Heroes. The lyrics are intended as an homage to performance artist Chris Burden and his 1974 piece Trans-Fixed, wherein Burden actually nailed himself to a car. In another verse, reference is made to the Shoot performance, in which Burden was shot by a professional marksman in a gallery. (Information on these pieces, as well as Burden’s other performance and non-performance art work, can be found via a keyword search in Watsonline.)

Heroes was part of Bowie’s famed “Berlin trilogy”, a period when he recorded three of his most innovative works—the other two being Low (1977) and Lodger (1979)—while living in the bohemian city. During this time, Bowie frequented the Brücke-Museum and studied works by notable Die Brücke artists such as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Erich Heckel. The contorted physicality in the latter’s painting Roquairol (1917) even inspired Heroes’ iconic and enigmatic album cover.

In 2010, the Brücke-Museum exhibited a Heckel retrospective. The exhibition catalogue, featuring Roquairol, can be requested from the Watson Library stacks, as can more than 100 other titles on Die Brücke artists!

Shortly after Bowie’s death, Barnbrook allowed the Blackstar graphics to be downloaded and used for non-commercial use. Barnbrook went on to win the Beazley design award in 2016 for his work on the graphics.

This post would be incomplete if Bowie’s influence on the fashion world was overlooked. His work with costume designers such as Alexander McQueen was simply iconic and, in some cases, museum-worthy. A jacket McQueen designed for the cover of the 1997 album Earthling opened AngloMania, an exhibition at The Met in 2006. The catalogue for the show, as well as catalogues of many other notable exhibitions at the Museum, can be found in Watson’s open stacks reference collection.