A long-running lawsuit over Fisk University’s attempt to sell two paintings by prominent 20th-century artists may finally be nearing a conclusion, as the parties involved have agreed on a settlement, according to The Tennessean, a Nashville newspaper.

Ken West, vice president for communications at Fisk, said the financially struggling college could “cease to exist” if the settlement is not approved by a state judge. The judge will consider the matter on August 31. A previous agreement between the parties last winter collapsed when the Tennessee attorney general blocked it.

Under the deal, the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, which sued to block Fisk’s planned sale in 2005, would become the owner of Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Radiator Building — Night, New York,” but Fisk could sell Marsden Hartley’s “Painting No. 3.” Both are part of the university’s Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Modern American and European Art, a group of 101 artworks donated by Ms. O’Keeffe 60 years ago.

The museum would pay Fisk $7.5-million in three installments by April 1, and it would drop its claim — the basis of its lawsuit — that Fisk was not honoring the terms of the donation. Ms. O’Keeffe is believed to have given the collection on the condition that it not be broken up.

Also under the deal, the museum would lend “Radiator Building” to Fisk for four months every four years. And if the museum decided to sell the painting within the next 20 years, then Fisk would get half of the sale price over $7.5-million. Fisk also would spend up to $392,000 of its settlement money to finish renovating the gallery that is home to the Stieglitz Collection. —Audrey Williams June