Nude Kate Moss's photos to be sold at auction

Nude photographs of Kate Moss will be sold at an auction next month among a series of other pictures of the British model.

Photo: Nude Kate Moss's photos to be sold at auction

The photos will be auctioned in London on May 31.

Two nude portraits, a 1996 print by Irving Penn and a two-meters (6.6 feet) square image by Albert Watson, are expected to sell for about 22,000 pounds (US$ 43,787, 32,323 EUR) and 15,000 pounds (US$29,855, 22,046 EUR) respectively, the auctioneer said.

A set of six prints of the model without makeup, by Chuck Close, could sell for up to 20,000 pounds (US$39,831, 29,393 EUR), Christie's said.

An unpublished photograph, being sold by one of Moss' friends, is expected to sell for 6,000 pounds (US$11,949, 8,818 EUR). The portrait, taken by photographer Corinne Day in 1990, was shot in London two years after Moss was discovered at a New York airport at age 14.

Another shot taken by Day in 1993 for Vogue magazine, which features a 19-year-old Moss, is expected to sell for 7,000 pounds (US$13,937, 10,291 EUR). The Vogue shoot helped propel the grunge movement into the mainstream and launch the infamous "heroin chic" look in the 1990s.

Yuka Yamaji, head of photography for the auction house, called Moss "a cultural icon and arguably the most influential model of our day."