Bob Dylan's rare abstract painting sells for nearly 200K at auction (2024)

An abstract painting by Bob Dylan, created around 1968, recently sold for an eye-popping sum.

A lucky collector was able to purchase the artwork, which theMr. Tambourine Man hitmakercreated during his Woodstock years, for awhopping $196,156 at RR Auction.

The auction house announced the sale in a press release on Friday, May 24th, which coincidentally fell on Dylan's 83rd birthday.

The bidding on the piece from the folk music legend — who will be portrayed in an upcoming biopic by Timothée Chalamet — started at $66,550, before it reached nearly $200,000.

The 24.5 x 30 painting is described as a 'colorful and energetic abstract composition featuring the large central outline of a bull.'

'The canvas is filled in with captivating abstract shapes and patterns combined with recognizable imagery, including music notes, bow ties, animals, and segmented features.'

'At the top is the red outline of a man in a brimmed hat—mirroring his own style during his Woodstock days.'

Dylan's painting techniques are described as ranging from, 'thin background layers to thick impasto, with bright yellows, corals, and oranges juxtaposed against more earthly base layers of greens and browns.'

The painting has a faint signature on the reverse with musical notes sketched underneath.

Dylan gave the painting to Woodstock resident Sandy LePanto in exchange for making him an astrology chart.

'Sandy was not only one of the most beautiful women in Woodstock at a time when there were many; she was a mystic, a channeler, a reader of stars, and maker of astrology charts for her friends,' wrote Anne-Margaret Daniel in Hot Press.

Sandy's friend Shelby Scherman Willer recalled, 'Although Dylan is technically a Gemini, he was born in the month of May, so with his early understanding of astrology it is my opinion that he may have thought himself to be a Taurus – the Bull represented in the painting.'

The painting is unvarnished and has experienced some wear over the years.

The piece remained in Sandy's family over the years and was recently rediscovered as part of her ex-husband Anthony LePanto's estate.

In addition to his seminal music, Dylan is an established visual artist, showing his work in major art galleries around the world and releasing multiple books of his painting and drawings.

Dylan's first painting to be shown to the public was the cover of The Band's 1968 album Music from Big Pink.

Another painting from the era by Dylan recently sold for $100,000 at auction after he gifted it to his late manager Albert Grossman.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer also painted the covers of his own albums Self Portrait (1970) and Planet Waves (1974).

Dylan is currently on tour as a part of the 2024 Outlaw Music Festival, which also includes Willie Nelson, Robert Plant, Alison Krauss and John Mellencamp.

The auction comes as Chalamet embodies Dylan while filming the biopic A Complete Unknown in New Jersey.

Based on Elijah Wald's 2015 book Dylan Goes Electric!, the movie follows Dylan as a 19-year-old arriving in 1961 New York City.

Shedding light on his relationship with his hero Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy) and other folk music legends, A Complete Unknown charts his rise to fame and the controversy around his musical shift.

The film also stars Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo, Edward Norton as Pete Seeger and Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash.

Chalamet was cast as Dylan back in 2020, when it was announced that James Mangold would direct Jay co*cks' script, which he re-wrote.

Filming began last month after the COVID-19 pandemic and the SAG-AFTRA strike pushed production from summer 2023.