The Stolen de Kooning: Recovery and Redemption

Cut from its frame, ripped from its backing, rolled up, and stolen from a museum in Arizona, Willem de Kooning's Woman-Ochre has been through a lot.
When the painting was discovered in an antique store in Silver City, New Mexico 30 years later, it needed extensive repairs.
In 2017 conservators at Getty got to work mending the torn canvas, and painstakingly restoring the composition.
Getty is a world-renowned cultural and philanthropic organization that shares and advances the world’s visual art and cultural heritage. Collectively and individually, our programs pursue our mission in Los Angeles and throughout the world. Our engagement in culture, arts, and philanthropy is achieved through our constituent programs: the Getty Conservation Institute, Getty Foundation, Getty Museum, Getty Research Institute, and Getty Trust.
Getty: www.getty.edu/
The Getty Conservation Institute works internationally to preserve culture and advance the practice of art conservation. Our work is driven by the values of excellence, innovation, leadership, collaboration, and service. Current projects include post-doctoral fellowships in conservation science.
The Getty Foundation is responsible for funding research and preservation of visual arts projects. The Foundation partners with people and organizations throughout Los Angeles. We award grants to support art historical scholarship, conserve art and architecture, increase access to museum collections and archives, and train visual arts professionals.
The Getty Museum fosters the enjoyment and understanding of art through events, exhibitions, and education. Visit the Getty Center and the Getty Villa Museum to explore exhibitions featuring art by Leonardo da Vinci, medieval artists, and others. Admission is free! Visit Getty’s website for tickets.
The Getty Research Institute works to further the knowledge of visual arts and culture through expertise, active collecting programs, public programs, institutional collaborations, exhibitions, publications, digital services, and residential scholar programs. Our activities and resources provide a unique environment for research, critical inquiry, and scholarly exchange.
Getty Conservation Institute: www.getty.edu/conservation/
Getty Foundation: www.getty.edu/foundation/
Getty Museum: www.getty.edu/museum/
Getty Villa Museum: www.getty.edu/visit/villa/
Getty Research Institute: www.getty.edu/research/

[@GVaughnForsyth]

yes! Mad props to painstaking work by The Getty. Last week, I read all about this fascinating story in LA newspaper, which whet my appetite to see it in person. Stat. Excited to head over for what promises to be a wonderful experience and visit. Awesome work! My previous visit to Turner blockbuster exhibition also had several marvelous examples of conservation by Getty!

[@BrianJosephMorgan]

Extraordinary.

[@toddaulner5393]

Rolling up a painting is a no-no.

[@todddennehy804]

What a happy accident! Oh, the luck of it all; I would just die!

[@cweefy]

The art world is as delusional as the fashion world to put such monetary value on such things. A piece of canvas with paint on it. If you like it you like it. But don't tell me it's literally worth millions of dollars. Ridiculous.

[@bigbrotherisasob]

It's actually two women facing each other, but with the illusion of also being just one facing forward.