Stolen de Kooning painting makes its way back to Arizona under cloak of darkness

TUCSON – The first sign that something big was happening came when University of Arizona police cars blocked off Park Avenue around 7:40 p.m. Wednesday.

Two SUVs pulled up behind the University of Arizona Museum of Art followed by a semi-truck. A team from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security jumped out, carrying guns. They spread out behind the museum, joining police officers in bulletproof vests who were already in position.

Inside the truck was a very special delivery: A painting by the famous artist Willem de Kooning that had been stolen in a brazen heist from the museum 36 years ago.

The delivery was purposely kept secret because the oil painting, titled "Woman-Ochre," is worth more than $100 million. It was returning from the Getty Museum in Los Angeles 500 miles away, where it had been undergoing restoration.

Only about a dozen university employees, most of them museum staffers, were allowed to witness the historic painting's return. They snapped photos and took video as the large crate housing "Woman-Ochre" was wheeled out of the truck.

Michael Torres, acting supervisory special agent with Homeland Security Investigation's Tucson office, took a quick photo on his cell phone as the painting rolled by.

"Here's your baby," he said with a smile to Museum Curator Olivia Miller.

Miller had spent the day exchanging texts with  Albert Chamillard, the museum's exhibit specialist. He flew to California on Tuesday, spent the night and then accompanied the two drivers of the truck on the journey. (Art shippers use dual drivers so if they need to stop and take a break, the art is never left alone in the truck.)

Miller said she was walking on campus earlier in the day when the realization that the painting was coming back — this time for good — started to sink in. Her eyes got watery at the thought.

The journey to the museum was mostly uneventful, though, Torres said their awareness was "heightened" when 20 minutes from the university, a vehicle on the freeway had on its emergency lights and kept flashing its high beams while driving close to the semi-truck. Homeland Security flashed their lights, and that was enough. The vehicle got off at the next exit.

"Luckily and fortunately nothing happened," he said.

The painting's return to campus Wednesday evening was a sharp contrast from when it came back to Tucson the last time, five years ago, after the owners of an antique store in Silver City, New Mexico, bought the art in an estate sale and discovered the painting was, in fact, an original and stolen de Kooning.

On that trip in August 2017, two museum staffers drove the de Kooning back to Tucson in a minivan. A convoy made up of university police and other law enforcement accompanied them. As they passed state and county lines, law enforcement from that jurisdiction would join up as escorts.

Once the painting was back on campus, it was considered evidence and had to be cleared by the FBI, a process that took more than a year. The thieves had badly damaged the painting, requiring extensive conservation at the world-renowned J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The COVID-19 pandemic slowed the conservation process and delayed an exhibit until this year.

For subscribers: This is the saga of Arizona's famous stolen de Kooning painting

By now, the story of the painting's theft is well-known: The theft took place on the day after Thanksgiving in 1985, when a woman and a man walked into the nearly deserted museum.  The woman started chatting with the security guard. The man headed upstairs to the second floor.

The security guard became suspicious when they left after only 10 minutes — an unusually short time to spend perusing art. A quick search revealed the valuable de Kooning painting had been cut from its frame.

Police believe the woman chatted to the guard to distract him so that the man, unobserved, could cut the painting out of its frame, possibly using a box cutter. He rolled up the 30-inch wide by 40-inch-tall painting and concealed it inside his blue winter jacket.

At that time, there were parking spaces and a street in front of the museum, making for a quick getaway. They fled in a rust-colored sports car.

Police found there wasn’t much of a crime scene. Museum staff were unable to get the car’s license plate. There was no video camera, no fingerprints detected. The FBI was called, along with Interpol, the global network of police forces, because stolen art often crosses state and international lines.

The painting would remain missing for 31 years, until it was discovered 220 miles from Tucson behind the bedroom door of a New Mexico couple, Jerry and Rita Alter. The Alters were transplants from New York City who had retired and built a home in the ranching community of Cliff in 1977. He was a retired music teacher, she was a retired speech pathologist.

It was only after the Alters had both died, in 2017, that the painting was recognized as stolen by three antique dealers hired to handle their estate.

David Van Auker, co-owner of Manzanita Ridge Furniture & Antiques in Silver City, alerted the museum, who rushed staffers to Silver City to retrieve the painting.

After an extensive restoration, "Woman-Ochre" is now back on campus and won't keep a low profile much longer.

The restored painting will "rest" a few days to acclimate to the temperature change before being uncrated and installed in a special gallery. Then "Woman-Ochre" will make a debut at a news conference before going on exhibit on Oct 8.

Torres, the Homeland Security special agent who helped escort the painting back to Tucson on Wednesday, plans to return to see the painting on exhibit.

“I just think it’s historic," he said. I’m glad I’m part of it.”

How to see 'Woman-Ochre'

Where to see the painting:  A special exhibit, Restored: The Return of Woman-Ochre, opens Oct. 8 at the University of Arizona Museum of Art in Tucson. See the museum's website for more information.

Why is the painting so valuable? Willem de Kooning's "Woman-Ochre" is an oil painting he made in the winter of 1954-55. The artwork is part of his famous Women series where the Dutch-American artist explored the female figure. The Women paintings shocked the art world because of their aggressive nature where the female form is characterized by wide eyes, big mouths and exaggerated breasts.

Painting's history: "Woman-Ochre" went on display at the Martha Jackson Gallery in New York City in 1955 before being purchased by Baltimore businessman Edward Joseph Gallagher Jr. in 1957. The next year, Gallagher donated "Woman-Ochre" and other works to the University of Arizona Museum of Art. The painting was valued at $6,000 at the time.

Estimated worth: The university is no longer releasing a value on the painting to the public, but in 2015 the estimated value was up to $160 million.

Where does the FBI investigation stand? The FBI has closed its investigation into the de Kooning painting without saying whether the Alters were responsible for the theft. But there is a lot of circumstantial evidence that points to the Alters as the thieves.

Republic reporter Anne Ryman was the first journalist to break the story that "Woman-Ochre" had been recovered and has written extensively about the painting. Have a question about the painting? You can reach her at anne.ryman@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8072. Follow her on Twitter @anneryman.

Reach the reporter at anne.ryman@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8072. Follow her on Twitter @anneryman.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Once missing Willem de Kooning painting makes its way back to Arizona