Warhol, Warhol on the wall ... is the federal court the fairest of all?

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2011/07/ryan-oneal-sued-over-missing-andy-warhol-portrait-farrah-fawcett

The University of Texas has sued Ryan O'Neal over his possession of a pricey Warhol portrait of Farrah Fawcett that they claim is theirs per Fawcett's living trust. The only two of these portraits in existence hung in Farrah's Westwood home in her final years. O'Neal was omitted from her "last will and testament".

From Statesman.com: 

A lawsuit filed by the UT System Board of Regents on behalf of the university in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles contends that Fawcett bequeathed both portraits to the university but that actor Ryan O'Neal "has wrongfully converted" one of them — legal language for the civil equivalent of stealing. 

The university wants a jury to order him to turn it over. 

O'Neal's publicist has said that the portrait was given to O'Neal by Fawcett and that he owes nothing to the university. O'Neal and Fawcett were longtime companions; they had a child together, and O'Neal was at Fawcett's side when she died of cancer in 2009 at the age of 62. 

UT's suit says Fawcett's trust specified that "all of (her) artwork and any objects of art" would go to the university upon her death. O'Neal may have "converted" other works of art from her collection, according to the suit.

More on this breaking story next week. In the meantime, despite opposition and legal threats from anonymous posters on this blog, members of the now-open Facebook group Farrah Fawcett: We Want the Truth are raising their voices again in calling for a complete investigation of Fawcett's estate.

Stay tuned ...

Finding Farrah: OWN star O'Neal says he owns Fawcett's missing $30M Warhol

Ryan O'Neal is ready to defend himself in the case of the missing $30M Warhol, according to a new report on Radar Online. A rep for the star of the OWN cable network's The O'Neals -- which airs Sundays after the Duchess of York's docu-reality series Finding Sarah -- tells the website: “Ryan will clear his name. The University Of Texas is fully aware of the whereabouts of the painting. If he had stolen it do you really think it would be openly displayed in public like that?"

Astute viewers found Farrah on Ryan's bedroom wall during the premiere of The O'Neals. ABC News reported that an investigation was underway to determine why the actor appeared to possess the original artwork when Fawcett willed all of her art to her alma mater, the University of Texas. Helping with the investigation: Farrah's Story executive producer Craig Nevius, who in May 2009 sued O'Neal for seizing control of the NBC documentary he was spearheading with the ailing actress. 

"I told the university, 'Be patient and wait, because this man is so arrogant, he's going to show'" his possession of the artwork, Nevius told ABC last week. 

Fawcett friend Alana Stewart -- who was promoted to producer of the NBC special while O'Neal wrestled control away from Nevius -- told The Insider last week that O'Neal has been paying insurance on the Warhol and thus owned it.

An unnamed insider tells Radar Online, “Some people are trying to make mischief on the second anniversary of Farah’s death, which is really sad."

Last week we reported a united front of impassioned Fawcett devotees began a hard-hitting Facebook group called Farrah Fawcett: We Want the Truth. Supporters of O'Neal, Stewart and other Farrah's Story and/or Fawcett estate insiders singled out in suspicion by the FB group have lashed back at the fervent fans in anonymous postings on this blog.