Nude Madonna picture 'sets sale record'
Sunday, 15 February 2009
A nude photograph of pop star Madonna, taken in 1979, has sold for $37,500 (£26,000), at an auction in New York.
The explicit black and white picture was taken when Madonna was a dancer struggling to make ends meet.
An unnamed buyer bought the picture, which had been expected to fetch $15,000 (£10,365), said Christie's.
The photo of Madonna was among 150 images from the collection of Leon and Michaela Constantiner, which included portraits of Linda Evangelista, Joan Crawford and Lana Turner.
The aspiring singer had replied to a newspaper advert by celebrated American photographer Lee Friedlander, who shot her for a series of nudes he was working on.
Madonna reportedly earned just $25 (£17) for the session. The photographer described her as 'very confident, a street-wise girl'.
Matthieu Humery, head of Christie's photography department, said the picture was 'probably the most explicit' shot Friedlander took of the future pop icon.
The full-frontal image, and five others taken at the same session, were sold to Playboy in the 1980s.
A second picture of the singer, by Helmut Newton, sold at the same auction for $18,750 (£12,888), also beating an earlier estimate.
The image of Madonna in a short red dress while a man kneels beside her, contemplating her stockings, appeared in Playboy in the 1980s.
A Herb Ritts photo of Madonna's True Blue album cover, which sold for more than $15,000 in 2006, was previously the most expensive photograph of the singer to sell at auction, according to Christie's.
The explicit black and white picture was taken when Madonna was a dancer struggling to make ends meet.
An unnamed buyer bought the picture, which had been expected to fetch $15,000 (£10,365), said Christie's.
The photo of Madonna was among 150 images from the collection of Leon and Michaela Constantiner, which included portraits of Linda Evangelista, Joan Crawford and Lana Turner.
The aspiring singer had replied to a newspaper advert by celebrated American photographer Lee Friedlander, who shot her for a series of nudes he was working on.
Madonna reportedly earned just $25 (£17) for the session. The photographer described her as 'very confident, a street-wise girl'.
Matthieu Humery, head of Christie's photography department, said the picture was 'probably the most explicit' shot Friedlander took of the future pop icon.
The full-frontal image, and five others taken at the same session, were sold to Playboy in the 1980s.
A second picture of the singer, by Helmut Newton, sold at the same auction for $18,750 (£12,888), also beating an earlier estimate.
The image of Madonna in a short red dress while a man kneels beside her, contemplating her stockings, appeared in Playboy in the 1980s.
A Herb Ritts photo of Madonna's True Blue album cover, which sold for more than $15,000 in 2006, was previously the most expensive photograph of the singer to sell at auction, according to Christie's.
From BBC News
excelent page
Posted by: zaman | Friday, 27 March 2009 at 01:38 PM
According to Repubblica, an important Italian Newspaper, the buyer is Fabrizio Masoni, the leader of an important leather factory in Tuscany that is also a big collector.
http://www.repubblica.it/2006/08/gallerie/gente/foto-madonna/1.html
Posted by: Antinoo | Tuesday, 17 February 2009 at 09:52 AM