On Monday, Fisk University in Nashville told the state attorney general that it is not interested in displaying the art collection of Alfred Stieglitz.

An alumna recently proposed a gift of funds to maintain the art at the financially troubled school. The school says the maintenance of the collection is a burden and an immediate infusion of cash is needed.

Fisk would like to sell a 50% share in the collection to Crystal Bridges Museum in Arkansas. The school asserts that the $30 million offered by the museum is necessary for Fisk to avoid bankruptcy.

The 101-piece art collection, gifted to Fisk by painter Georgia O'Keeffe, includes works by O'Keeffe and her photographer husband Stieglitz as well as Picasso, Renoir, Cezanne, Marsden Hartley, Diego Rivera, among others.

State officials are concerned that a partial sale of the collection to an out-of-state institution would discourage future charitable giving in Tennessee.

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