“The art heist went down without a hitch in only 15 minutes.”

–Maria Woodie, ArtistsNetwork

The Crime: Tucson 1985

The University of Arizona Museum of Art (UAMA) wasn’t even open yet the morning after Thanksgiving 1985, when an employee arrived to find a man and a woman already waiting outside. The gregarious couple managed to talk their way in, following the employee into the building.

The woman, wearing a red jacket and a scarf in her hair, chatted up a security guard, while her mustachioed partner went upstairs toward one of the museum’s most important works.

Woman-Ochre had been in the museum’s collection since 1958. It was unceremoniously taken off exhibit when this Black Friday visitor hacked the canvas out of its frame, rolled it up, stuffed it under his jacket (or somewhere), and made a hasty exit with his accomplice.

The two were peeling out of the parking lot with the painting before anyone at the museum realized what had just occurred. Back then, the UAMA didn’t have security cameras, and there were no leads. All they had was testimony from the few eyewitnesses, police composite sketches, and an empty frame.

UAMA put the theft insurance money they received from the state into getting surveillance cameras and otherwise tightening up their security.

Possibly unrelated, but the university has also renovated the area, so you can no longer pull a car right up to the front of the museum.

Periodically, UAMA would remind the public of the missing painting. Staff held out hope for its return, but they really didn’t know if they’d ever see it again.

And, for over 30 years, they didn’t.

The Origin: New York 1955

“Beauty becomes petulant to me. I like the grotesque. It’s more joyous.”

– Willem de Kooning

The painting they had stolen was Woman-Ochre by Willem de Kooning, who is considered to be one of “the twentieth century’s most influential artists.” He was a contemporary of New York abstract expressionists like Arshile Gorky, Franz Kline, Jackson Pollock, Ad Reinhardt, and Mark Rothko.

Woman-Ochre is part of the controversial series of Women paintings de Kooning did in the early 1950s. Described by some as “aggressive” or “violent,” they were too abstract to be considered portraits, but the recognizable human forms meant they weren’t abstract enough for de Kooning’s avant-garde friends.

Perhaps his refusal to fit neatly into categories is part of what has kept people intrigued by de Kooning’s art over the years. His works are “among the most marketable in the world.” In 2016, his piece Interchange sold for $300 million, making it the world’s most expensive painting at the time. The University of Arizona (UA) estimated Woman-Ochre itself to be worth $160 million in 2005.

The Discovery: New Mexico 2017

“…if the thief has kept the painting, he or she eventually dies, and the surviving family finds the painting and tries to sell it. The painting is returned — but the process can take decades.”

–UANews article written in 2015, when Woman-Ochre’s whereabouts were still unknown

In 2017, a retired public school speech therapist named Rita Alter passed away in Cliff, New Mexico, a town of under 300 people. Her husband, Jerry had passed a few years before, so their nephew was left in charge of dealing with the house and eclectic estate.

Most of the furniture and some other household items were sold as a lot to Manzanita Ridge Furniture + Antiques in nearby Silver City for $2000.

That included an intriguing mid-century painting that was found awkwardly hanging behind the Alters’ bedroom door. Once it was on display in the store, people started asking if it was authentic and offering huge amounts of money for it.

Puzzled, store co-owner David Van Auker removed it from the floor and began researching the painting. The search turned up articles from the 30th anniversary of Woman-Ochre’s theft, which UA publicized to keep the missing work in the public eye.

One UANews article from that time basically called it: “Usually, a stolen painting gets returned to a collection in one of two ways. The thief may try to sell the piece shortly after the heist and get caught. This often takes only a few years. But if the thief has kept the painting, he or she eventually dies, and the surviving family finds the painting and tries to sell it. The painting is returned — but the process can take decades.”

David picked up the phone and called UAMA. “I think I have a piece of art that was stolen from you guys….”

A few days later, museum staff made the 3-hour drive from Tucson to Silver City to authenticate the painting. They were moved to tears when they realized it truly was the piece that had been missing for so long.

“The thieves actually committed two crimes that day. First, they stole an important signature painting from the University’s museum collection. They also stole more than 30 years of access from the public and scholars across the world, depriving them of the opportunity to appreciate, learn from and be inspired by a significant artist.”

–Kimberly Andrews Espy, UA senior vice president for research, in a UAMA statement

How did it get there in the first place? There’s evidence to suggest that the couple who owned the New Mexico home where the de Kooning was found were the ones who had made off with it all those years before. Since they’re both deceased, they won’t get a jury trial. However, we know the pair was in Tucson the day before the heist, celebrating Thanksgiving with family. And they do bear a resemblance to the police sketches made shortly afterwards.

UAMA offered to purchase the painting from Manzanita Ridge, but they refused to accept any money for it.

Instead, they only asked for the gold frame it was found in, so “they can display it in tribute to the incredible story,” and for the painting to be “safely returned to the people of Arizona.”

The Restoration: Los Angeles 2019-2022

They didn’t steal [Woman-Ochre] from the museum, they stole it from all of us. From everyone.”

–David Van Auker, the antique store co-owner who found Woman-Ochre

It turns out that violently wrenching an oil painting from its canvas, rolling it up, and then stuffing it under your clothing are not recommended art preservation techniques.

When Woman-Ochre was finally found, it was a mess. The paint was cracked and flaking off. Damage caused by the theft was made worse by amateur attempts to repair it and the haphazard way it was stapled and screwed into a new frame. (Also not recommended.)

The painting was taken to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, where their team of experts painstakingly assessed and repaired the damage. They were able to use infrared photography and X-radiography to find out exactly what type of materials de Kooning had used to create his painting, so they could treat it appropriately.

Conservator Laura Rivers spent months cleaning it and using a microscope and small dental tools to reattach tiny paint fragments piece by piece.

Work restoring the painting went on for about 2.5 years before it was ready to be back on exhibit.

The Exhibition: Tucson 2022-2023

“I believe art should be where everyone can see it.”

– Edward Gallagher, who originally donated Woman-Ochre to UAMA

After an exhibition at the Getty, Woman-Ochre returned to its Tucson home.

Phillip and I got to see the Restored: The Return of Woman-Ochre exhibition, as well as Abstract Perspectives in Mid-Century Art, which displayed art from de Kooning’s contemporaries, showing the context of his work.

Restored wrapped up today, but the Woman-Ochre painting itself will remain on display at UAMA. It will return to museum’s second floor in a gallery that has been renamed the Manzanita Ridge Gallery in honor of the antique store owners who were crucial in its journey home.

More to Watch + Listen to about Woman-Ochre…

• The Thief Collector: Documentary about Woman-Ochre’s theft and the secret lives of the crime’s main suspects. I got to see a screening with my friend Laurel at UA in October. I’ve wanted to recommend it, but there wasn’t really anywhere you could see it. Now it’s finally available to rent or buy on Amazon! (Not endorsing Amazon but glad this gripping yet thoroughly entertaining doc is getting out there!)
• The Recovery: 10-minute video by the Arizona Republic.
• Getty PODCAST: For deep dives into the painting and its restoration, listen to The Recovery and Conservation of a Stolen de Kooning + Damaged de Kooning on Display at Last.
• Conserving de Kooning: Theft and Recovery: 3.5 minute video by the Getty.