Charlie’s Angels actress Farrah Fawcett died in 2009.  Now, the University of Texas at Austin is fighting with her former lover over ownership of a painting of the actress.

When Fawcett died, she left all of her artwork to UT-Austin, according to an April 15 McClatchy DC article.  Fawcett studied art at the university in the 1960s. Ryan O’Neal, who had a romantic relationship with Fawcett throughout much of her life, took one of a set of identical 1980 Andy Warhol portraits from her home when she died.

O’Neal maintains that the painting belongs to him because Warhol painted one portrait for Fawcett and the other was painted for O’Neal. The Los Angeles Superior Court ruled in December that O’Neal could keep the painting.  Now, the university is appealing the decision.

“I can confirm that UT filed a notice of appeal and that we are still weighing our next steps.  Because this involves litigation, there’s not much else I can say,” Gary Susswein, director for media relations at the university said in a text message.

Other officials at the university communications office did not respond to requests for comment.  The attorneys involved in both sides of the case were also unable to comment because they were traveling.

The university’s Blanton Museum of Art has the contested portrait on display currently. Officials from the museum also declined to comment.

After one of Fawcett’s other former boyfriends told the university about the existence of the second painting and the painting was shown on a reality show about O’Neal and his daughter, the university filed the lawsuit in an attempt to retrieve it. According to the McClatchy DC article, public records show that the university hired a private detective for $5,000 during this time, possibly to track down the painting.

The painting is also worth $12 million, according to the article.

The university has a $1.3 million limit to spend on the retrieval of the painting.  By the end of March, UT had already spent $1.15 million on the case. McClatchy reported, “if it continues to pursue the appeal, the university would almost certainly have to authorize additional spending.”

At the original trial, O’Neal’s attorney built his case on witness statements from sources close to Fawcett that attempted to prove that the painting was originally painted for O’Neal. In court, O’Neal’s attorney accused the university of being greedy since it already had one painting and was trying to attain the other one.  The university argued that Fawcett had possession and paid insurance on both paintings since at least 2009. Fawcett and O’Neal were never married and broke up in 1997, 12 years before her death, which creates complications in ownership arguments, according to the McClatchy DC article.

At the trial, the jury also ruled that a small Andy Warhol painting of split hearts, that Warhol dedicated to Fawcett and O’Neal after drawing it on a napkin while they were at dinner together, belonged to both Fawcett and O’Neal equally.

The hearing is set to come before the California Court of Appeals on May 2.

Published on April 24, 2014 at 1:02 am

Contact: clmoran@syr.edu