A nude portrait of Brazilian bombshell Gisele Bündchen taken in 1999 by famed fashion photographer Patrick Demarchelier is expected to pull in up to $28,000 at Artcurial’s Photography auction (which takes place May 20 at the auction house's headquarters in the French capital). Taken the year Bündchen became a breakout success at the age of 19, if the high price is realized it will mark the most expensive photo ever of the supermodel — who is married to New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and has appeared on countless magazine covers and advertisements for nearly every major fashion label. Even now at 33 she continues to land lucrative advertising gigs.
Most recently Bündchen became the face of Chanel's new make-up range, Les Beiges, and was chosen by Karl Lagerfeld himself over Rihanna. Consistently ranking as one of the world's top-earning models, as well as one of the most successful female entrepreneurs, she pulls in several million dollars a year.
Also at the Artcurial sale will be a portfolio of nudes of Kate Moss, taken by various photographers including Chuck Close, Terry Richardson, Annie Leibovitz and Mario Testino. The portfolio is expected to bring in a whopping $110,000. And if that’s too rich or risqué for you, there’s a nice portrait of the back of Barack Obama’s head taken by Mark Seliger in 2010 that is going for about $16,000.
