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 "The painting is mine," the Oscar-nominated actor testified during a
lawsuit filed by the University of Texas at Austin to determine
ownership of the portrait done in 1980.
The university claims Fawcett left the painting to the school as
part of a donation of her artwork.
O'Neal said Warhol created the portrait after shooting Polaroid
photos of the actress and adding splashes of color to an otherwise
monochrome canvas.
The artist created two versions of the portrait — one that currently
remains over O'Neal's bed at his Malibu beach house and another that
is on display at the university's Blanton Museum of Art in Austin.
O'Neal said Warhol asked him in 1980 whether Fawcett would be
interested in being the subject of a portrait and that she agreed.
The actor said he requested two versions since he and Fawcett kept
separate homes.
He said Warhol made the portrait within two weeks of a brief photo
shoot with Fawcett in his New York studio.
"It didn't take long," O'Neal, 72, said. "Doing her hair took longer
than taking the pictures."
David Beck, an attorney for the University of Texas, challenged
O'Neal, suggesting Warhol approached Fawcett directly about the
portrait session during a luncheon in Houston in 1980.
Beck said there was no mention in a journal kept by O'Neal about a
deal with Warhol. The actor said some of his journal from that time
period had been lost.
O'Neal's testimony was at times testy and emotional, with the actor
nearly breaking down when he read a letter Fawcett wrote to the
couple's son, Redmond.
After Beck asked O'Neal to read passages from his 2012 memoir "Both
of Us," the actor tersely offered to sign a copy for the lawyer.
[to top of second column] |
 Beck also questioned O'Neal about a 1997 incident in
which Fawcett caught O'Neal in bed with another woman. The lawyer
has contended that changed the pair's relationship, and by the
following year, the Warhol portrait that hung over O'Neal's bed was
moved to the home of the actress.
O'Neal said he asked Fawcett to take the portrait
because it was making his new girlfriend uncomfortable. The portrait
remained with Fawcett until her death in June 2009. She had a Warhol
portrait in her living room and the other at her bedroom door.
After Fawcett's death, O'Neal returned to the condominium and
removed the portrait outside her bedroom.
Beck questioned whether the actor ever discussed removing the
portrait with anyone, including a trustee charged with carrying out
Fawcett's final wishes.
"Of course I did," O'Neal said. "I'm sure I did. It
wasn't a secret."
The university sued the "Love Story" star in 2011 seeking the Warhol
artwork that its attorneys have said the school wants to display
with its twin in the Blanton museum.
O'Neal has countersued, seeking the return of a tablecloth that
Warhol drew hearts on and addressed to him and Fawcett.
He told jurors that if he is allowed to keep the Warhol portrait, he
will never sell it. His estate documents call for it to be passed
down to Redmond O'Neal, he said.
O'Neal concluded his current testimony Monday, but his lawyer Marty
Singer said he expects to call the actor back to the stand later in
the trial.
[Associated
Press; ANTHONY McCARTNEY]
Anthony McCartney can be
reached at
http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP.
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