Carla Bruni Nude Photo Sold for $91K in Auction

A nude photo of French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, standing in a pigeon-toed pose and covering her modesty with her hands, was sold on Thursday in New York for $91,000, more than 20 times its expected price.

A buyer for a Chinese art collector bought the black-and-white image, taken by photographer Michel Comte in 1993 during her modeling days, Christie's auction house said.

The sale of the photo has attracted attention since Bruni married French President Nicolas Sarkozy in February.

The photo had been expected to fetch between $3,000 and $4,000. It was auctioned as part of a sale of 140 photos from German collector Gert Elfering, which also features work by Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton and Peter Beard.

The proceeds will go to Sodis, a Swiss charity that promotes clean water in the developing world.

Related posts:
Madame Sarkozy, Carla Bruni steals limelight in UK State Visit
Nude portrait photo of Sarkozy's wife, France first lady, for auction