$10m for nude Moss painting

LONDON - A nude portrait of pregnant supermodel Kate Moss by one of Britain's most renowned artists, Lucian Freud, has sold for 3.93 million ($10.35 million) at a London auction.

Auction house Christie's said an anonymous telephone bidder bought the near-lifesize painting, Naked Portrait 2002, which had been estimated to fetch up to 3.5 million.

"[It] is very rare in Freud's oeuvre for being one of only a few portraits the artist has painted of well-known or famous people," Christie's said.

"In this case Freud's sitter is, with the possible exception of Queen Elizabeth II, probably the most famous figure ever to be painted by the artist."

Freud, grandson of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, also painted Texan model Jerry Hall when she was pregnant.

- REUTERS