Portrait of Fawcett to stay with O’Neal, US court rules

For most of the last 33 years, an Andy Warhol portrait of Farrah Fawcett has hung in the home of her longtime lover, Ryan O’Neal, and a jury’s verdict ensures that is where it will stay.

For nearly a month, O’Neal has been in a courtroom as lawyers for the University of Texas at Austin sought to gain possession of the portrait, arguing that Fawcett bequeathed the artwork to the school upon her death.

O’Neal fought back and testified last week that the portrait was his closest remaining connection to Fawcett, who died in 2009. The actor’s descriptions of talking to the portrait and feeling the presence of the actress were among the last words that jurors focused on, asking to hear his testimony again on Thursday morning.

Within 90 minutes of reviewing the testimony on Thursday, the panel returned a 9-3 verdict in favour of O’Neal. The actor wasn’t present for the jury’s decision, but his sons Patrick and Redmond O’Neal clasped hands and hugged after hearing the result.

Patrick O’Neal said he spoke to his father and “he was very happy”. The actor’s attorney Marty Singer said O’Neal was having a medical procedure and that’s why he wasn’t in court on Thursday.

The artwork is valuable, with experts estimating it is worth between US$800,000 and US$12 million. Ryan O’Neal, however, told jurors he had no intention of selling it and wanted to pass it down to his only son with Fawcett, Redmond.