Michael Stipe and Douglas Coupland artworks earn personal-record prices in Capture Photography Festival auction

Stipe’s photograph of Kurt Cobain’s hand sells for $75,000 while Coupland’s painting goes for $150,000

Michael Stipe’s 1993 work *Kurt,* and Douglas Coupland’s painting *Northwest Passage,* from 2024. Photo by Keagan Archer-Hastie

A FUNDRAISING AUCTION for Vancouver’s Capture Photography Festival has just seen Michael Stipe and Douglas Coupland set new personal records.

Stipe’s 1993 photo of Kurt Cobain's hand, simply called Kurt, sold at the Vancouver auction for $75,000, a record for the REM lead singer’s photographic work. Stipe, who has become a well-known photographer since the dissolution of his band in 2011, was in attendance.

Coupland’s canvas oil painting titled Northwest Passage also set an auction record for the artist, selling at $150,000. Coupland is a celebrated novelist, short-story writer, essayist, and visual artist, whose works have spanned sculpture, photography, and public art—including the Terry Fox Memorial by BC Place and Digital Orca overlooking Burrard Inlet and Coal Harbour. His most well-known books include Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture and Life After God.

The live auction was held at Coupland’s home on Saturday night. Douglas is a co-chair of Capture’s board of directors.

Launched in 2013 and running through the month of April, the Capture Photography Festival is Western Canada’s largest lens-based art festival. It spans gallery shows, public artworks, films, talks, and more.

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Janet Smith

Janet Smith is cofounder and editorial director of Stir. She is an award-winning arts journalist who has spent more than two decades immersed in Vancouver’s dance, screen, design, theatre, music, opera, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.

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