14 DAY TRIAL // A while ago, it emerged that a never before seen, uncensored photo of a 20-year-old dancer named Madonna Louise Ciccone would go up for auction at Christie’s auction house. At the time, it was said that the full-frontal pic would get $15,000 at best but, as The Associated Press informs, a European businessman paid no less than $37,500 for it.
The photo showing the young singer was taken by photographer Lee Friedlander and, while Madonna only got $25 bucks for it, the unnamed European buyer was clearly willing to pay the extra price to take it home. In doing so, the photo has become the most expensive picture ever sold featuring Madonna, setting a new record.
This was not, however, the first time that this “explicit” and “full-frontal” photo of Madonna came out. It, along with many others that Friedlander took, appeared in “Playboy” as early as 1985, while some of them have already gone on sale, being auctioned for as much as $7,000. Of the lot, though, it is said that the photo featuring the now legendary singer is “probably the most explicit one,” as The Associated Press also says.
Madonna came to pose for the controversial photo after answering an ad in a newspaper calling girls willing to pose without clothes. She came to Friedlander’s studio and was accepted for the job – in return, she was paid $25. At the time, several media reports have it, Madonna was a struggling dancer, “strapped for cash” and doing whatever odd jobs came her way to make ends meet. Later on, when she came into money with her music, she probably forgot about the photo in question, it is being said.
When word first got out about the picture going on auction in February, several media outlets and celebrity bloggers were quick to state that Madonna herself would be the highest bidder on it, in an attempt to let things die down and move away from controversy for once. Since the identity of the buyer has not been made public, the claim that it was Madonna who shelled out $37,000 for a picture of herself still stands.