A legal battle over an Andy Warhol silkscreen portrait of '70s icon Farrah Fawcett will begin today in Los Angeles between Ryan O'Neal, the star's long-time former boyfriend, and the University of Texas, TheWrap reports.
For the past two years, O'Neal and the University of Texas have been vying for the portrait. The University sued O'Neal in 2011 for allegedly wrongfully obtaining it from an original pair of "nearly identical portraits" done by Warhol that they say the late actress had bequeathed to them in a living trust. The other portrait is currently on display at the University of Texas at Austin.
The portrait is estimated to be worth around $30 million, and according to O'Neal, was given to him before Fawcett died of cancer in 2009. O'Neal has enlisted a number of celebrities to take the stand with him, including his son with Fawcett, Redmond O'Neal, Alana Stewart, and Fawcett's former co-star, Jaclyn Smith.
In his cross-complaint to the University of Texas, O'Neal accused the school of using "vast publicly funded financial resources to bully and harass" him into giving up the portrait. Meanwhile, the University claims they are only trying to honor Fawcett's "charitable intent and wishes."
"It is indisputable that in Ms. Fawcett's living trust, she named the University of Texas at Austin as the sole beneficiary of all of her works of art, including artwork she created and all objects of art that she owned, for charitable purposes," Randa S. Safady, Ph.D, UT's vice chancellor for external relations, said in a statement. "We therefore have a legal and fiduciary responsibility to pursue fulfillment of the requests outlined in her trust instrument."
During a deposition in 2012, O'Neal said that he was in possession of the portrait until the late '90s, when a woman he was dating at the time objected it to being hung up in his home. He returned it to Fawcett on the condition that she would give it back to him later on, as he "would be back" for it.
In addition to the portrait, O'Neal is also trying to gain ownership of a napkin doodle that Andy Warhol made for himself and Fawcett in the 1970s.
Click here to see a photo of the portrait of Farrah Fawcett that O'Neal and the University of Texas are currently engaged in a legal battle over.
