Ryan O'Neal, University Resolve Dispute over Andy Warhol Napkin Sketch

Ryan O'Neal and the University of Texas settled a dispute concerning ownership of an Andy Warhol drawing of split hearts he sketched on a tablecloth during a dinner with Ryan O'Neal and the late Farrah Fawcett, a courtroom clerk said today.

A jury decided in December that Fawcett and O'Neal jointly owned the drawing before the actress died of cancer in June 2009. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William MacLaughlin said previously that if the parties could not resolve the issue among themselves, he might have no choice but to order a sale if the impasse continued.

However, MacLaughlin's clerk said today the dispute was resolved and that today's scheduled hearing was cancelled.

After a hearing in February,  O'Neal's attorney, Martin Singer, said the two sides were considering having the sketch sold through a third party, such as an auction house.

On Dec. 19, a jury found that O'Neal was the rightful owner of a Andy Warhol portrait of Farrah Fawcett, the piece of art that was the main focus at the litigation and trial. O'Neal insisted the Warhol piece was given to him as a gift by the artist, and Fawcett and her friends knew he was the owner before her death.

Fawcett bequeathed all of her original artwork, as well as a second Warhol portrait of the actress -- also created by the late artist in 1980 -- to the university that the Texas-born beauty attended for several years in the 1960s until her acting career took off.

The university maintained the Warhol tablecloth drawing was among the items Fawcett intended to donate to the school.

The school sued O'Neal in August 2011, after the disputed Warhol portrait of the Oscar-nominated actor's longtime love was seen in his home during an episode of the reality TV show "Ryan and Tatum: The O'Neals."

O'Neal, now 72, countersued to try and have the tablecloth drawing returned to him. He said Warhol dedicated the sketch to him and to Fawcett.

--City News Service