The Wall Street Journal’s Bankruptcy Blog reports this deal between Fremont General Corp. and the California insurance commissioner over the proceeds of a sale last year of Ansel Adams photographs:

Fremont General Corp. has agreed to let California’s Insurance Commissioner to keep $4.1 million from the sale of Ansel Adams prints sold at Christie’s auction house last year in the months before the company filed for bankruptcy protection. At issue was a collection of Ansel Adams prints — among the largest in private hands, according to Christie’s — that included 121 silver-gelatin Ansel Adams prints. The collection also included 23 mural-size prints of famous Ansel Adams photographs such as “Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite,” and “Aspens, Northern New Mexico.” [ . . . ]

Fremont Indemnity acquired the Ansel Adams prints over a six-year period between 1969 and 1975 when the famed photographer and company vice president David McIntyre worked together on a project to decorate Fremont’s offices.

Under the deal, Fremont General will keep about $300,000 from the auction and the unsold artwork, which is estimated to have a value of as much as $2 million.

Fremont Settles Suit Over Ansel Adams Prints (WSJ/Bankruptcy Beat)