A recently discovered painting by British pop icon David Bowiehad frantic bidders lining up Tuesday for a chance to own it. The painting, with Bowie’s initials on the back, was discovered at a Canadian store that resells donated goods.

The computer and acrylic collage on canvas is part of the so-called D Head series of portraits of the Ziggy Stardust rocker himself, his friends and others that he painted between 1995 and 1997.

Opening bids of more than US$14,000 blew past Toronto auction house Cowley Abbot’s estimated US$7,400 to US$9,900 valuation of the diminutive artwork. The online auction closes on June 24.

“We were very excited to discover that the artwork was original and authentic,” auctioneer Rob Cowley told AFP.

“We are fans of David Bowie’s work and it is very exciting to bring an artwork by him to the market.”

The 24cm x 20 cm painting of a pale figure dressed in teal clothes, with teal and red hair on a crimson background, was originally sold through a website around 2001.

It somehow found itself two decades later at a donations store in South River, Ontario — 300 km north of Toronto. There, an anonymous buyer paid US$4 for it.

Bowie attended art school and was an avid collector. His estate fetched tens of millions of dollars after his death in January 2016 for some 350 works from his collection, including by Basquiat, Henry Moore and Damien Hirst.

But his own artworks, according to Cowley, rarely go on sale.

Bowie was a musical icon for more than four decades, starting with “Space Oddity” in 1969, “Heroes” in the 1970s, and “Let’s Dance” and “Modern Love” in the 1980s. His more recent hits like 2013’s wistful “Where Are We Now?” were also well-received.

Bowie died of cancer, two days after the release of his 25th studio album, “Blackstar,” on his 69th birthday.