AUSTIN, Texas -The University of Texas has sued actor Ryan O'Neal on the grounds he won't turn over an Andy Warhol painting of Farrah Fawcett. The suit contends the late actress, a Texas alum, bequeathed the portrait to the school in her will and that O'Neal has, in effect, stolen it by keeping it after her death in 2009.
Ryan O'Neal, the actor, is being sued by the University of Texas over a $30 million (£18.7 million) Andy Warhol portrait of his late partner Farrah Fawcett.
"The Warhol portrait is an irreplaceable piece of art for which legal damages could not fully compensate," the lawsuit states. ARTKABINETT AK Files initially reported last week that the valuable artwork was not to be located
The system's board of regents sued O'Neal in federal court in Los Angeles on Friday, asking a judge to order the Oscar-nominated actor to turn over the painting. The portrait is one of two that Warhol made of the "Charlie's Angels" star and the university claims the actress bequeathed it to their Austin, Texas campus.
The school currently possesses one of the two editions of the Warhol portrait, which are composed of paint and silkscreen and were both given to Fawcett by Warhol. But the university says Fawcett's will left all of her artworks to the school.
"Obviously, the Warhol is the big-ticket item," said Barry Burgdorf, vice chancellor and general counsel for the UT system, told the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman. "We think it's quite valuable, but how valuable is hard to say."
The university's lawsuit claims O'Neal may be holding onto other pieces from Fawcett's art collection that she wanted the university to have after her June 2009 death. Fawcett attended the University of Texas at Austin in the 1960's, according to the complaint.
"The enduring value and public interest in the Warhol portraits is a testament not only to Mr. Warhol's talent and artistry, but also to Ms. Fawcett's status as a cultural icon," the lawsuit states.
Warhol created the portraits in the 1980s and they were only publicly displayed twice, the lawsuit states.
The University of Texas wants O'Neal to purchase insurance for the painting and properly preserve it so that it can be turned over to the university if the lawsuit succeeds. It also seeks undetermined financial damages from O'Neal, but states the Fawcett portrait is priceless.
A spokesman for O'Neal, Fawcett's longtime companion, told the American-Statesman Fawcett actually gave the portrait to O'Neal. It was seen hanging in O'Neal's California home, over his bed, on a recent episode of his new reality television series. O'Neal's spokesman Arnold Robinson blasted the lawsuit in a statement, saying the university has known for more than a year that the actor has painting. "This is completely ridiculous lawsuit," Robinson wrote.
