NEW YORK (AP) - An auction house has canceled a New York sale of Diane Arbus photographs amid a lawsuit accusing their owner of taking advantage of the man who sold them to him.

Phillips de Pury & Co.'s Web site says Tuesday's auction was called off, and a private sale is in the works.

Phillips de Pury representatives and attorneys for the men involved in the lawsuit didn't immediately return telephone calls early Wednesday.

The images were only recently rediscovered and revealed to be the famed photographer's work.

A Brooklyn collector of African-American art sued the photographs' owner last month. The collector said he didn't know the images were Arbus photos when he agreed to sell them to the current owner for about $3,500. The owner says in court papers the collector's claims "strain credulity."