French icon Brigitte Bardot pictured by Richard Avedon

Elfering recalled he was instantly taken with the dramatic portraits but was unable to afford even a single print.

Instead, he left with a book and a poster. In 1998 he acquired the complete Horst archive.

"It just shows," says Elfering, "how times can change."

"I started with a book and a poster, then moved on to smaller prints, then more expensive ones, and finally the estate," says Elfering.

And now he's letting most of it go - 135 lots - in a sale in New York on April 10, 2008.

But not before giving the public a chance to see them one more time.