The Recovery and Conservation of a Stolen de Kooning
b"\\u201cWe hear the security guards talking to one another on the walkie-talkie, saying that there\\u2019s a man on the line saying that he has a stolen painting. And I wish somebody could\\u2019ve seen us, because we just stopped our conversation and Jill\\u2019s eyes got big, and she said, \\u2018Oh, my gosh, are we gonna remember this moment for the rest of our lives.\\u2019\\u201d\\n\\n\\n\\nOn the day after Thanksgiving in 1985, two thieves casually entered the University of Arizona Museum of Art (UAMA). They strolled out minutes later with Willem de Kooning\\u2019s painting Woman-Ochre. Without security cameras or solid leads, the trail to find the stolen painting quickly went cold. In 2017, however, the artwork turned up in an unlikely place: a small antique shop in Silver City, New Mexico. After more than 30 years, the work was finally returned to the UAMA, but it was badly damaged, due to the way it was torn from its frame during the heist and how it was subsequently stored and handled. The UAMA turned to the Getty Museum and Conservation Institute to help conserve the painting.\\n\\n\\n\\nIn this episode, UAMA curator of exhibitions Olivia Miller and Getty Museum senior conservator of paintings Ulrich Birkmaier discuss Woman-Ochre\\u2019s theft, recovery, and conservation, as well as its place in de Kooning's oeuvre and the UAMA's collection. The treatment is still in progress, and the restored artwork is scheduled to be on view at the Getty Center from June 7 to August 28, 2022.\\n\\n\\n\\nFor images, transcripts, and more, visit https://blogs.getty.edu/iris/podcast-the-recovery-and-conservation-of-a-stolen-de-kooning/ or http://www.getty.edu/podcasts/"