It’s gonna be hot on the sales floor at Phllips de Pury’s London outpost on Friday when the posh auctioneer launches its latest endeavor — the eagerly-awaited SEX-themed sale.
The sale is anchored around the not too original concept that sex sells — and sales is what Phillips is certainly hoping for.
There are dozens of lots with 221 total works by endless names – famous, infamous and unknown. Among the highlights is the work above — a 1992 pic (above) snapped by iconicly naughty photog Helmut Newton of France’s First Lady Carla Bruni, sexy and exposed looking at family portraits. The piece is expected to fetch between $4,500 and $7,500 — a relative bargain considering how far Bruni has come from her modeling days.
Other important pieces include Gay-ish works by Tom of Finland (in the $9,000 range) and David Hockney (about $2,000), a sensual-themed pieces by Matisse (from about $10,000), drawings by Picasso, sketches by Andy Warhol, and some seriously color-saturated pieces by photo-artist Marilyn Minter, a Tom Ford fave.
The show is bound to lure lots of curious collectors — but don’t show up empty-handed: You must be over-18 to attend.