Nude Carla Bruni Pic Sells for $19K

Revealing image of the French First Lady rakes in $19,600 at auction

BERLIN — A revealing photograph of former model and France's current first lady Carla Bruni was bought for $19,600 by an anonymous bidder Thursday at a Berlin auction house.

The image is one of 10 prints of a nude Bruni lounging in an unmade bed captured by American fashion photographer Pamela Hanson in 1994.

The Villa Grisebach auction house appraised Carla Bruni in Bed at $3,568-$4,997 and talked to prospective buyers from as far away as Mexico, according to the house's photography expert, Franziska Schmidt.

"I really don't know why there is such a hype," Schmidt said. "For us it is not the highlight."

Last year, Christie's auction house in New York sold a different nude print of Bruni for 30 times more than anticipated. An anonymous bidder paid $91,000 for the photograph.

Villa Grisebach would not provide any information on the winning bidder Thursday.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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