Stolen de Kooning returns to US museum
August 23 2017
Video: UA Research
An abstract painting by Willem de Kooning which was stolen from the University of Arizona's museum of art in 1985 has been returned. 'Woman Ochre' turned up in a New Mexico antiques store this year after being bought at an estate sale. When the store owners realised it was a stolen de Kooning they immediately notified the museum.
In 1985 a man and woman (never caught) had cut it out of its frame. Confirmation that the painting in the antiques shop was indeed the stolen painting came when the original stretcher and the remains of canvas still on it were perfectly aligned with the rest of the canvas, as seen in the video above.
More in the New York Times.
