– Ryan O'Neal Wins Warhol's Fawcett Portrait: A California jury has sided with actor Ryan O'Neal in his dispute with the University of Texas at Austin over a portrait painting of his longtime partner Farrah Fawcett by Andy Warhol, which the late actress had left to her alma mater. The painting in question is one of two Warhols portraying Fawcett — the other is hanging in UT's Blanton Museum of Art— but the school sued O'Neal after spotting his version, which hangs over his bed, on a reality TV show. [BBC]
– "I Have Suffered for What I Love": An interview with Pei-Shen Qian, the artist behind the Knoedler Gallery forgeries, reveals that Qian started out as a street artist and janitor who had no idea that Knoedler was selling his works. Allegedly, Jose Carlos Bergantinos Diaz, partner of Glafira Rosales, commissioned the works from Qian for years without telling him where they were going. "I made a knife to cut fruit," Qian said. "But if others use it to kill, blaming me is unfair." [Bloomberg]
– Pelosi Campaigns for George Lucas Museum: In a letter to San Francisco's Presidio Trust, which is currently weighing proposals for three competing institutions to be built in the park — including "Star Wars" director George Lucas's Lucas Cultural Arts Museum— Representative Nancy Pelosi demanded a decision next month, seemingly throwing her support behind Lucas's project. "I hope you will emphasize the need to draw a vibrant cross section of visitors to the Presidio, with particular attention to inner-city youth," she wrote. "A strong proposal that would realize this goal is important to the future of the Presidio, particularly by increasing visitation and also by creating a star attraction to provide a distinct destination site for visitors." [SF Chronicle]
– India Sale Soars: Christie’s first auction in India did very well, with many doubled estimates, and the record for an Indian artist at auction with a $3.8 million work by Vasudeo S. Gaitonde. [Bloomberg]
– Selfie Mania in Chelsea: With up to eight-hour lines stretching outside of David Zwirner to see (and photograph) Yayoi Kusama’s infinity rooms, New York gallerists note that they’ve seen an increased number of new gallery visitors who are mostly just there to take selfies. [WSJ]
– Firsts and Lasts Find Homes: The Paul Mellon estate has donated Vincent van Gogh’s "Green Wheat Fields, Auvers," one of the artist’s last works, to the National Gallery of Art in D.C. Meanwhile, what may very well be the first work by Andy Warhol that he ever sold, from when he was a student at Carnegie Mellon, has been gifted to the Crystal Bridges Museum. [WP, NYT]
– A group of Detroit artists are holding a march, the "Walk for Artistic Freedom," in the city on Friday in support of the Heidelberg Project, the sprawling outsider art installation that has been targeted by arsonists in recent months. [AP]
– Artist Jason Pallas was removed from an exhibition at West Chicago City Museum after his contribution was revealed to be that he had posed as an AP English teacher and sent out a press release announcing that a non-existent school glee club would perform a minstrel show as a charity benefit. [Suburban Life]
– The National Portrait Gallery in London unveiled the first painted portrait of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, by Alastair Adams, and it is very intense and creepy. [Guardian]
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