A nude photo of French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has been sold in New York for $US91,000 ($A97,713), more than 20 times its expected price.

A nude photo of French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has been sold in New York for $US91,000, more than 20 times its expected price.

A buyer for a Chinese art collector bought the black-and-white image, taken by photographer Michel Comte in 1993 during her modelling days, Christie’s auction house said.

The photo shows the model in a pigeon-toed pose and covering her modesty with her hands.

The sale of the photo has attracted attention since Bruni married French President Nicolas Sarkozy in February.

The photo had been expected to fetch between $US3,000 and $US4,000.

It was auctioned as part of a sale of 140 photos from German collector Gert Elfering, which also features work by Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton and Peter Beard.

An Avedon portrait of 1950s and 1960s French screen siren Brigitte Bardot sold for $US181,000 ($A194,352).

It had been expected to garner between $US80,000 and $US120,000.

法国第一夫人卡拉•布吕尼-萨科齐的一张裸体写真日前在纽约以9.1万美元的高价拍出，高出预估价20多倍。
　
据克里斯蒂拍卖行介绍，这张照片被一名中国艺术收藏家拍得。这张出自摄影大师米歇尔•康姆特之手的黑白裸体写真拍摄于1993年，当时布吕尼还是名模特。
　
照片中的布吕尼双腿呈内八字姿势，双手遮住了羞处。
　
自从布吕尼于今年2月与法国总统萨科齐完婚后，这张照片的拍卖便吸引了广泛关注。
　
这张裸照在拍卖之前的估价为三千至四千美元。
　
拍卖这张照片的德国收藏家哥特•艾尔菲林此次共拍卖了140张照片，同时拍卖的照片中还包括欧文•佩恩、理查德•阿维顿、海尔姆特•纽顿和彼特•伯德的作品。
　
其中一张由阿维顿拍摄的照片以18.1万美元的高价拍出，照片中的人物是法国上世纪五六十年代的著名影星布里吉特•巴多特。
　
这张照片的预估价在8万美元至12万美元之间。