Photography Collection

A photograph of a nude Carla Bruni, the ex-model now married to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, was sold Thursday to a Chinese collector for 91,000 dollars at Christie's -- more than 20 times its predicted price. The gelatin silver print, taken by photographer Michel Comte in 1993, depicts a young Bruni in a standing pose, apparently in reference to the paintings of French neo-impressionist artist Georges Seurat depicting models. It was standing room only in the auction hall as more than 200 photographs were put up for sale, including one of screen siren Brigitte Bardot by legendary American photographer Richard Avedon which fetched 181,000 dollars. The Bruni-Sarkozy photograph, labeled "lot 64," was hotly contested by bidders over the phone and via Internet, as well as in the hall. The winner, a man of Asian descent, was present in the auction hall and was immediately protected from journalists by house staff. "He was bidding on behalf of a Chinese collector," Christie's spokesman Rik Pike told reporters.
Christie's had at first estimated the Bruni portrait to go under the hammer for about 4,000 dollars, but the lead auctioneer quickly assessed the interest in the packed room and bumped up the opening bid to 10,000 dollars. "The media and the level of international interest for this photo have played their role. Michel Comte is not so well known as Richard Avedon or Helmut Newton," Pike said. Christie's defended its decision to put on sale a nude image of a serving first lady, describing Bruni as "one of the most beautiful women in the world." "It's a work of art. It was shot in 1993 when Miss Bruni was a model and it's a tasteful nude portrait executed by a well known, respectable artist," Milena Sales, spokeswoman from Christie's, told AFP last month.
The photograph came from a collection that includes works by Helmut Newton, Herb Ritts, Richard Avedon and Leni Riefenstahl, featuring among other images, nudes of British models Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell. Swiss photographer Comte said he has thousands more nude photos of Bruni in the 10 years they worked together, including some much more explicit, but he told Swiss media last month he would never sell them.