Glamorous model, Carla Bruni is a hot cake for bidder. Her photograph has been sold at a huge sum of $91,000 during an auction bid at Christie’s. Due to her marriage with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the incident has caught more public attention. It has been reported that a Chinese collector bought Carla Bruni’s photo at the price almost twenty times more than what was being predicted. Carla Bruni’s photograph is a part of collection that includes outstanding works by Helmut Newton, Herb Ritts, Richard Avedon and Leni Riefenstahl. It incorporates various nude images of top-shot models of Britain namely Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell. Michel Comte has photographed this gelatin silver printed picture of Carla Bruni in the year 1993. All it depicts is Bruni, in a standing pose, shows all her youthfulness. One might refer it to the paintings of Georges Seurat, the famous French neo-impressionist artist. Amongst more than two hundred pictures that were put up for sale, Carla Bruni’s photograph drew the attention of the people. Being labeled as "lot 64," it was contested by all the bidders present in the hall. Not only that, people has invited bidding for it, even through telephone and internet. More stories follow about this hi-fi bidding session. The winner, a man of Asian descent, was present in the auction hall and was being guarded away from the journalists. The onus of his protection laid on the hall staffs. While talking to the reporters, Rik Pike, the spokesperson of Christie’s said "He was bidding on behalf of a Chinese collector". Beforehand the Christie's thought that Carla Bruni’s photograph might fetch a bid of $4,000. However sensing the high rise demand of the bidders the lead auctioneer instantly 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," adds Pike. Describing Carla Bruni as "one of the most beautiful women in the world", Christie’s has tried to defend their act of putting on sale Britain’s first lady. "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," clarified Milena Sales, spokesperson of Christie's while giving interview to a popular news agency. Swiss photographer Comte too came forward with his sensational comments. He has claimed that he possessed thousands of Carla Bruni’s nude photographs. All these have been shot during ten years of his work with the model. Adding more spice, he said that some of these photos are overly exposed. However he vehemently told the media that these photos are not to be sold.
