California State University at Fresno is scheduled to be the first stop for an exhibit of “lost” images from a cache of glass negatives that a local construction worker says are works from early in the career of Ansel Adams.
The arrangement has thrust Fresno State into the center of a debate now roiling the art world over the authenticity of glass photographic plates that Richard Norsigian says he bought 10 years ago at a garage sale for $45, and the controversy has prompted some to question whether the university’s involvement lends an academic imprimatur to an exhibit of questionable provenance.
It is also creating a delicate situation for Fresno State: how to avoid alienating the heirs of the legendary photographer—who are among those who question that the plates were made by Mr. Adams—while also honoring its offer to Mr. Norsigian’s Beverly Hills lawyer to display them.
Some of Mr. Adams’s heirs, notably son Michael and daughter-in-law Jeanne, are longtime benefactors of the Fresno State Library. The lawyer for Mr. Norsigian, Arnold Peter, is a university supporter as well. All three are Fresno State alumni.
In July a team of investigators hired by Mr. Peter held a news conference to report that the 65 glass negatives that Mr. Norsigian bought appeared to be rare surviving works by Adams from an early period of his work in the 1920s and 1930s. Mr. Norsigian and Mr. Peter also announced that the plates and prints made from them would be part of a national tour kicking off at Fresno State in October. The investigative team included handwriting experts, a meteorologist, and a former director of Duke University’s art museum.
The managing director for the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust, William Turnage, has blasted the claims, calling assertions that Ansel Adams was the photographer of the plates “an unfortunate fraud.” He was also quoted in the Los Angeles Times saying the university’s exhibit of the works “would be an embarrassment for Fresno State.”
Ansel Adams died in 1984 at the age of 82, leaving a trove of masterpieces, including many iconic images of the American West. Neither Michael nor Jeanne Adams appears to have commented publicly on the matter. The photographer’s grandson Matthew Adams, who now runs the Ansel Adams Gallery, based in Yosemite National Park, has publicly questioned Mr. Norsigian’s claims. He did not respond to calls seeking comment.
‘The Whole Detective Story’
Plans for the Norsigian photos to be shown at Fresno State originated not through the usual university channels for an art exhibit but with a request from Mr. Peter to a university development officer for the College of Social Sciences, Kent Karsevar.
Mr. Peter, who is also producing a documentary film that will tell the story of the discovery of the photographic plates 10 years ago and Mr. Norsigian’s efforts to have them authenticated, said it was his hope to have the exhibit coincide with the première of the documentary, which is set to be shown at the student union on October 14. The showing, to be held under the auspices of the College of Social Sciences, will be a fund-raising event for the university.
In an interview, Mr. Peter said the documentary “will fairly present all sides” of the debate over the photographic plates, but ultimately provide evidence to debunk the doubters. The investigative team concluded that it was probable that the plates Mr. Norsigian acquired could have been part of a collection that was believed lost in a 1937 fire at Adams’s Yosemite National Park studio.
He said the exhibit, too, would also put the photos in context and “tell the whole detective story” of the authentication efforts, which he said should be of particular interest to students in art history, forensic science, and criminology. (Mr. Peter received his master’s in criminology from Fresno State.)
But the fate of the exhibit appears less certain, based on the comments from Luz Gonzalez, dean of the College of Social Sciences in a succession of e-mails to The Chronicle. In the first, she wrote that the university was not intending that a show would validate the authenticity of the plates, preferring to leave that to the experts. “The show at Fresno State of Mr. Norsigian’s plates is designed to provide members of the university community as well as residents of Central California a chance to become part of this intriguing conversation,” she wrote.
In a follow-up message on Wednesday, Ms. Gonzalez confirmed that one possible venue, the library, was unavailable because its gallery spaces were already booked for the year. Other gallery spaces on the campus may also be booked, and if they are, she said, “Mr. Peter may need to find another venue off campus.”
Asked if the university was concerned that showing the exhibit might antagonize the photographer’s heirs, the library’s benefactors, Ms. Gonzalez did not reply directly, saying, “Of course, we continue to honor and appreciate all friends of the university, including the Adams family.”
Mr. Peter said he remains confident the show will proceed at Fresno State. “All I know is I have been extended an invitation,” he says, although the timing may have to change.
He acknowledges an element of “enlightened self-interest” in both his sponsoring the documentary and his desire for Fresno State and other universities to show the photos. The universities would not be “endorsing” the claims of authenticity, he says, but helping to air the issues involved.
Mr. Norsigian is now selling prints from some of the plates, and the controversy is building interest in the works and what Mr. Peter calls “the magic of Ansel Adams.” He says the Adams family and the publishing trust have a financial interest as well. “Whether you believe us or you believe the Adams family,” says Mr. Peter, “it’s a great story,”