The mysterious theft of the painting of Willem de Kooning from the Museum of arts of the University of Arizona has long disturbed the minds of the police, however, to solve the riddle they failed.
The painting entitled «Woman Ochre» worth 165 million dollars, is an abstract expressionist work, which depicts a Nude woman. It was donated to the Museum of art at the University of Arizona (UAMA) in 1958, where she became a real gem of the collection.
However, the Day after thanksgiving in 1985 she was kidnapped during a daring robbery is held in broad daylight. Criminals, man and woman, came to the Museum to open, pretending to be casual visitors. While the woman distracts the guard, her accomplice cut the picture from its frame, rolled it into a roll and hid under the hollow of her coat (at least, so thought the investigators). After the deed was done, the pair hurriedly left the Museum. When the missing pattern was noticed, the criminals are already gone. They practically left no evidence, and surveillance cameras at that time was not hanging on every corner. To track down thieves, the police failed.
Cool assignment this week: Photographed the return of Willem de Kooning»s «Woman Ochre» to Arizona. The painting was stolen 31 years ago. pic.twitter.com/8O6qmDL3jb
— John de Dios (@johndedios) August 17, 2017
And now, several years later, the loss surfaced in the antique shop Manzanita Ridge Antiques in silver city, new Mexico, where she sold for $2,000. The visitors began to discover the work of a master, and then the store owner contacted the Museum of Arizona and called the experts. Barely 36 hours as a team of art from UAMA came from Arizona to new Mexico to check the authenticity of the picture.
It turned out that for 32 years «Woman Ochre» hung in the bedroom of the alleged perpetrators, and the location was chosen so that only they could see her. Rita and Jerome, Alter lived in the city of cliff, new Mexico, worked as teachers and had a reputation for seasoned travellers. They have visited 7 continents and visited a total of 140 countries and also, apparently, stole a extremely expensive painting. After their death, their nephew, Ron Rosman sold off their possessions, among which was this masterpiece. He’d passed all the art objects in an antique shop and was very surprised when he knocked on the door, the FBI agents want to ask you a few questions.
But all’s well that ends well. Painting by de Kooning returned to its rightful place in one piece. And although the couple Alterou suspected of stealing, at the moment still do not know who actually stole the painting and where she remained for 32 years. Ron Rosman doesn’t want to believe in the involvement of their relatives, although there is one small piece of evidence, which quite clearly confirms all suspicions.
In 2011, Jerry Elter wrote a book of short stories called «Cup and lip». In it we find the story of the woman and her daughter who stole a 120-carat precious stone from the Museum. One of them distracted the guard and another steal the treasure. Then both characters sit in the car and hiding from pursuers. Safely reaching the house, they hide the stone, which is called «eye of Jaguar», the cache in their own house, so they could admire its beauty. A familiar story, isn’t it?
