A New York judge granted celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz, 59, one month's extension to respond to a lawsuit filed by the Madison Avenue-based "art market financier," Art Capital Group (ACG), which loaned her $24 million last December.

According to ACG claims, Leibovitz backed out of a deal that made the firm the "irrevocable exclusive agent" for managing the sale of her "fine art, intellectual property and real estate assets", when it lent her the loan amount at a reduced interest rate.

In what can be termed as the toughest time-limit of her rather dazzling career - with her illustrious list of subjects including Hollywood celebrities and the Queen -, Leibovitz has to pay back $24 million that she borrowed from ACG after running out of cash.

In case of her failure to pay the borrowed amount or strike an arrangement with ACG, the lender will be entitled to sell Leibovitz's archive of four decades, along with her properties in Greenwich Village and Rhinebeck in New York state.

Going by public records, Leibovitz has, in the past two years, faced demands for back taxes of $1.4 million and two writs for $700,000 for the purportedly 'not paid' bills from suppliers.

Commenting on Leibovitz's extravagance, Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter said: "The mind that can take these extraordinary pictures is not necessarily the same mind that is a perfect money manager!"