Hollywood actor Ryan O’Neal has once again stepped into the limelight, this time not for a movie role, but for an extraordinary art acquisition. O’Neal recently purchased a striking Andy Warhol portrait of his late ex-wife, Farrah Fawcett, for an astonishing $18 million.
The portrait, painted by pop art icon Andy Warhol, captures the timeless beauty and charisma of Fawcett, who rose to global fame in the 1970s with her role in Charlie’s Angels. The piece is not only a remarkable example of Warhol’s artistic brilliance but also a deeply personal work, given the shared history between O’Neal and Fawcett.
The portrait has also been at the center of controversy between O’Neal and the University of Texas who claimed that Fawcett gifted it to the school by herself. In 2013, a court ruled O’Neal could keep the painting.
The painting was valued by experts to be worth around $12 million at the time of the dispute. O’Neal is shopping it for $18 million, after originally asking $20 million. The painting was painted in 1980 by Warhol.
Warhol is most famously known for his screen printed images of soup cans and celebrities like Marilyn Monroe. Pop art and Warhol went hand in hand. You could not mention pop art without bringing up Andy Warhol and his works created in The Factory, Andy Warhol’s studio.
Warhol was known for creating portraits of celebrities. Those include Mick Jagger, Elvis, Elizabeth Taylor, Queen Elizabeth and Keith Haring. View Andy Warhol’s top 10 paintings.
