In a first of its kind, Christie's New York auction house is going to sell a nude portrait of the first lady of France, Carla Bruni next month. The portrait was made more than a decade ago when the now wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy was working as a model. The portrait in gelatin silver print was taken by photographer Michel Comte in 1993. It depicts Bruni in a standing pose, apparently in reference to the paintings of French neo-impressionist artist Georges Seurat. Christie defended the decision of the auction house to put on sale a nude image of a serving first lady, describing Bruni as "one of the most beautiful women in the world". The spokesperson of Christie's auction house commenting on the portrait said, "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." "Christie's stands by the works it represents to its clients, it doesn't censor or pass judgement on any content or subject matter. It's a perfectly respectable work of art," she added. The photograph comes from a collection of photographs 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. Bruni's portrait is expected to fetch up to US $4,000 when it goes under the hammer on April 10, 2008. ... read more »