Nude Madonna photos set to star in Bob Guccione auction

A collection of early nude photographs of Madonna will highlight the collection of Penthouse magazine founder Bob Guccione, which will auction online on November 9.

Madonna nude photographs Guccione
The photographs were taken six years before Madonna's first album: Photo: Guccione Collection. http://www.liveauctioneers.com/.



The photographs are mostly unpublished, though some have appeared in both Playboy and Penthouse. Estimates vary for the shots, though the leading images will sell with an estimate of $6,000-8,000.

Photographer Herman Kulkens took the photographs in 1977 - six years before the release of Madonna's first album - before selling them to Guccione. They were taken while Madonna was an 18-year-old University of Michigan dance student named Madonna Louise Ciccone, after she agreed to pose for $10 an hour.

Bob Guccione (1930-2010) amassed a huge collection of erotic photographs, drawings and artworks during his lifetime. Following his death at age 79, the entire Guccione estate was bought by Wall Street trader and entrepreneur Jeremy Frommer, who is now putting the items up for sale.

Dixie Evans Marilyn Monroe
The blurred shot is most likely of Dixie Evans, the 'Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque'. Photo: Guccione Collection. http://www.liveauctioneers.com/.



Also starring in the auction is a small selection of erotic photographs of an unidentified woman that were published in Penthouse magazine, linking them to Marilyn Monroe.

Valued at $600-1,000, the shots bear a passing resemblance to the screen icon, but Paul Fraser Collectibles believes them to be photographs of exotic dancer and Marilyn Monroe impersonator Dixie Evans.

Among the highest valued lots in the sale is Nude #1, an oil painting by John Berkey - the man behind the original poster art for Star Wars. It is valued at $15,000-20,000.

Paul Fraser Collectibles has some stunning signed nude photographs for sale, including Pamela Anderson and Brigitte Bardot.

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