Remember the nude Carla Bruni photo going up for auction at Christie's? Well, it went up yesterday and fetched a staggering $91,000. In a protracted bidding battle waged via phone and Internet, a New York buyer for a Chinese art collector won the 1993 photo for, oh, 22 times what the Christie's people thought it would fetch. (Again: What recession?) He even outbid a German magazine editor who planned to give the photo to French president Sarkozy. Because wives just love when their husband's friends come to dinner parties with blown-up versions of their nude pictures of yore. Fruit platters are so passé.

We're bewildered at the price tag ourselves because, well, wasn't everyone so in love with Bruni last week because of her clothes? Also, models regularly appear topless in fashion magazines, especially in European issues, so model boobs — even if they are Carla's — these days are just kind of "meh." One art dealer told the Daily News, "I don't think it's particularly striking." Another noted, "'All it takes is two people who really want it to push up the bid." Yeah. Here's to fruit platters. And clothes. Particular those from Dior.

Nude photo of French first lady sells in New York for $91,000 [NYDN]
THE COST OF CARLA [British Vogue]