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UT, Ryan O’Neal in Court Over Warhol Portrait of Farrah Fawcett

flickr.com/eelundgaard

A trial is underway to determine who owns a Andy Warhol portrait of Farrah Fawcett: the late actress’s on-again, off-again companion, or the University of Texas.

UT and actor Ryan O’Neal face off in a Los Angeles courtroom today. When Fawcett died in 2009, she bequeathed her art collection to UT, her alma matter – including a silkscreened portrait of Fawcett made by famed pop-artist Andy Warhol in 1979.  UT reportedly hired a private investigator to track down the portrait.

That investigator didn’t have to look long however. As KUT News reported last year, when O’Neal’s reality show debuted on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network in 2011, the artwork was spotted on the wall of Fawcett’s former partner.

Late last month, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge denied O’Neal’s bid to dismiss the case. The trial is scheduled to start today. The print is roughly valued at $30 million. 

Wells has been a part of KUT News since 2012, when he was hired as the station's first online reporter. He's currently the social media host and producer for Texas Standard, KUT's flagship news program. In between those gigs, he served as online editor for KUT, covering news in Austin, Central Texas and beyond.
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