Posted on 07/27/2010 12:45:30 PM PDT by Daffynition
os Angeles, California (CNN) -- Rick Norsigian's hobby of picking through piles of unwanted items at garage sales in search of antiques has paid off for the Fresno, California, painter.
Two small boxes he bought 10 years ago for $45 -- negotiated down from $70 -- are now estimated to be worth at least $200 million, according to a Beverly Hills art appraiser.
Those boxes contained 65 glass negatives created by famed nature photographer Ansel Adams in the early period of his career. Experts believed the negatives were destroyed in a 1937 darkroom fire that destroyed 5,000 plates.
"It truly is a missing link of Ansel Adams and history and his career," said David W. Streets, the appraiser and art dealer who is hosting an unveiling of the photographs at his Beverly Hills, California, gallery Tuesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
$3,000,000 a negative?
Even at $2,000 a print from a negative, do they really expect to sell 1,500 inferior prints by some technician (not the artist) long after his death?
For 65 different images?
The press sure loves hyperbole.
i AGREE.
I think 25% would be reasonable.
“Only time will tell if we’ll stand the test of time” - Van Hagar, another 1980s hair-metal band.
He should pay Captain Kerry’s boat tax.
First I would ask them if they would give me some of my money back if there was concealed damage. If they said no then I would walk with a hearty laugh.
Giving them a cut would generosity not decency.
I was thinking the same thing about giving the seller a bit of the dough.
I remember seeing a story about a guy who was in an antique shop picking through some WWII letters when he came across a packet with his own name on them.
Turned out they were love letters between his now deceased parents that had been overlooked when relatives cleared out the couple’s home. Can’t remember the details now.
Anyway, the seller would not take any money from the guy for the letters. Nice story.
All I can say is, “You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din.”
On the flip side, in today’s sue-happy society with a bunch of leaches that want something for nothing, that person would probably sue you for the full value of the negatives.
“Even at $2,000 a print from a negative, do they really expect to sell 1,500 inferior prints by some technician (not the artist) long after his death?”
They sell for tens of $$ at art.com and the likes http://www.art.com/gallery/id—a71/ansel-adams.htm . It all adds up as years go by
When I was 23, my mom and I went to a garage sale; I pickup up two wooden boxes for $20 ea. I also got the lady there to come down from $22 each.
I completely forgot I even had them until my mom moved from AZ to ID. She found them in the attic. So, at 65, I decided it was long past time to open them!
When I opened them....one was full of toe nail clippings and the other was full of plastic tips for shoe strings.
Not worth $2MM, you say!
Fie upon the lot of you!
After many calls to the people who were using the photo in those ads, I discovered that it was a stock photo found in a box of photos sold at a sale or auction in Las Vegas Nevada, and they were considered in the public domain.
It's kind of nice to have the photo, even if it is in a magazine, as I have only two or three snapshots from my childhood.
After many calls to the people who were using the photo in those ads, I discovered that it was a stock photo found in a box of photos sold at a sale or auction in Las Vegas Nevada, and they were considered in the public domain.
It's kind of nice to have the photo, even if it is in a magazine, as I have only two or three snapshots from my childhood.
That’s a lot of capital gains taxes.
He needs to run for congress immediately
My father would have respected your father, as do I.
Thanks for your part in saving our history!!
Now that is cool..
We just moved and I found a box of negatives and some military orders and engraved brass calling card plates from the Army Officer who once lived here. Kind of cool stuff.
Decent and kind. Qualities lacking today, I’m *afeared.*
Norsigian said he tried to contact the original purchaser after learning of the negatives’ true value but has had no success. Also, Norsigian said the man who sold him the negatives said he bought them in the 1940s from a salvage warehouse in Los Angeles.
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