Avedon Foundation disputes authenticity of printer's prints from 'In the American West'

The Avedon Foundation refuses to authenticate 126 prints from Richard Avedon's 'In the American West' series, made by his collaborator Ruedi Hofmann. The series, commissioned in 1979 by the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, for $500,000, took five years and produced 752 black-and-white portraits. Hofmann, a close assistant, requested a signed print for each photo he worked on as payment, but Avedon never signed them. The foundation's refusal persists despite testimonies from Laura Wilson, who documented the project, and Norma Stevens, former manager and director of the foundation, who attempted a settlement offering Hofmann an authenticated print in exchange for his unsigned series. The foundation questions why Hofmann never asked Avedon to sign the prints in subsequent years, implying they might be fake or stolen. Meanwhile, the foundation is in ongoing litigation with Gideon Lewin, another Avedon collaborator, over his book 'Behind the Scenes With Richard Avedon,' which includes unflattering essays and behind-the-scenes photos. Lewin claims Avedon never entered the darkroom and likely hadn't printed a photo since 1950. The cases highlight the complex relationship between photographers and those who process their work, a persistent issue in contemporary photography.