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.

(Agencies)