NYC auction sells topless photo of Polanski, Tate taken months before her death

Topless photo of Polanski, Tate auctioned in NYC

NEW YORK — A topless photo of filmmaker Roman Polanski and his wife, Sharon Tate, taken just months before her murder has sold at a New York City auction for just over $11,000.

The black and white portrait by British photographer David Bailey shows the couple embracing. Christie’s says it was sold Monday to an unidentified private buyer. The presale estimate was $8,000 to $12,000.

The 76-year-old Oscar-winning director is under house arrest in Switzerland. The United States wants him to face sentencing for having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977. He fled the U.S. before being sentenced.

His attorneys plan to argue before a California appeals court that the charges should be dismissed.

Tate was killed in 1969 by followers of Charles Manson.