Ansel Adams Negatives Controversy: 5 Other Great Lost Artwork Debates

(July 28) -- Ten years ago, Rick Norsigian, a commercial painter in Fresno, Calif., found a box of glass film negatives at a garage sale and bargained the price down from $70 to $45. After extensive research on Ansel Adams and his purchases, meetings with with curators and historians, and hiring an entertainment lawyer and experts, Norsigian claims to own 65 glass negatives of Ansel Adams' work. Norsigian's appraisers and the news media have been conjecturing the find to be worth around $200 million.

According to experts and a Beverly Hills appraiser, the works are authentic. David Streets, an appraiser, even said, "It truly is a missing link of Ansel Adams and history and his career."

However, Ansel Adams' grandson, Matthew Adams, and William Turnage, Adams' business manager, vehemently dispute such claims.

"I think it's irresponsible to claim that they're Ansel's," Matthew Adams told AOL News. "We think it's a very significant claim and we think it's not accurate."

While debate over the negatives' authenticity rages, Surge Desk takes a look at five famous historical artworks that turned out to be fakes or whose authenticity is still being studied and debated.

The Find: Agesander, Athenodoros and Polydorus' marble sculpture "Gruppo del Laocoonte," meaning "Laocoon and His Sons" (discovered 1506-1508)
Estimated Haul: Unknown
Outcome: The statue was in several pieces when found. Later on, an arm was was attached to the statue, and other restorations were made to the piece. To this day, it is not known whether it is an original. Even the three accredited sculptors were known to copy originals. Moreover, there are many copies of the statue around the world. Lynn Catterson, an art history professor at Columbia University, said it is a forgery by Michelangelo Buonarroti -- but this is still being debated. The "original" is located in the Vatican Museum.

The Find: Johannes Vermeer's "The Supper at Emmaus" (discovered 1936)
Finder: Han van Meegeren
Estimated Haul: 520,000 guilders (estimated to be $300,000 U.S.)
Outcome: The painting was purchased by the Rembrandt Society and donated to the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Holland, where it was part of an exhibition alongside other Dutch masterpieces for several years. Art expert and restorer M. Jean Decoen and Abraham Bredius, an art historian and Vermeer authority, said the piece was an authentic Vermeer. After investigations, Van Meegeren confessed to forging the painting. No one believed him and he had to forge Vermeer's "Jesus among the Doctors" to prove he was telling the truth.

The Find: Jackson Pollock paintings (discovered 2003)
Finder: The Pollock-Krasner Foundation
Estimated Haul: One Pollock is valued in the millions (U.S. dollars)
The Actual Outcome: At the turn of the century, University of Oregon physicist Richard Taylor said five discovered Pollock paintings may be fakes.The foundation commissioned him to examine six of 32 alleged Pollock drip paintings for fractal clues. In 2006, Taylor found all six to be fakes. Researchers at Harvard University and the Museum of Fine Arts concluded that parts of the works had materials not available during Pollock's lifetime. Still, no one knows if they're fake or real.

The Find: Leonardo da Vinci's "La Bella Principessa," meaning "Beautiful Princess" (discovered 2009)
Finder: Peter Silverman
Estimated Haul: $150 million
Outcome: Notorious restoration specialist Peter Paul Biro was hired to authenticate the work. He claims to have found da Vinci's fingerprint on the upper-right-hand corner of the portrait. He also said the fingerprint matches the one on another da Vinci masterpiece. Although Oxford University art history professor Martin Kemp and da Vinci experts support Biro's conclusion, his fingerprint-identification technique is a huge question mark among art authenticators. The work was displayed at an art exhibit in Gothenburg, Sweden, earlier this year.

The Find: Sir Peter Paul Rubens' "A Commander Being Armed For Battle"
Finder: An auctionee (has been a Spencer family heirloom for more than 200 years)
Estimated Haul: Earl Spencer, Princess Diana's brother, sold the painting this past weekend for 9 million pounds (almost $14 million U.S.). With a doubtful tone, the painting is estimated to be worth 8 to 12 million pounds ($12 million to $18 million U.S.).
Outcome: After World War II, the painting was part of an exhibition and was believed to be a Rubens. Its authenticity was tested by X-rays and infrared exams. There are still skeptics who say the work was done by Cornelis van der Geest, a 17th century spice merchant. Currently, it's not confirmed as a Rubens original.