Loading articles...

Recovered de Kooning painting back in the spotlight

PHOENIX — More than 30 years after it was stolen from an Arizona museum, a Willem de Kooning painting worth millions of dollars is going on display where it all began.

The University of Arizona Museum of Art is giving a glimpse of “Woman-Ochre” Sunday as part of a fundraiser before the piece undergoes restoration work.

A New Mexico antiques dealer bought the oil painting in 2017 and realized it was the same piece taken in the heist.

Curator Olivia Miller says the FBI, which still has the case open, officially released the painting back to the museum in November.

Police say a couple swiped the painting the day after Thanksgiving in 1985.

It is one in an iconic series by the Dutch-American abstract expressionist that explores the female figure.

Terry Tang, The Associated Press