Photos and article by Mary Alice Murphy
On Sunday, Aug. 5, 2018, a contingent of personnel from the University of Arizona Museum of Art celebrated the return of the stolen Willem de Kooning "Woman-Ochre" to their museum in Tucson. They came to Silver City to again thank the owners of Manzanita Ridge second-hand furniture store for returning the painting, which had been stolen from the museum the day after Thanksgiving in November 1985.
On August 1, 2017, David Van Auker, Buck Burns and Rick Johnson, owners of Manzanita Ridge used furniture and decorative items store in downtown Silver City, made the find of a lifetime at an estate sale and didn't even realize it until customers continued to ask if the painting was a real de Kooning. Then they locked it away and did some research.
For a comprehensive article on the discovery, visit http://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/38629-silver-city-man-discovers-and-returns-valuable-stolen-painting?highlight=WyJwYWludGluZyIsInBhaW50aW5nJ3MiXQ==
At the Aug. 5, 2018 celebration, Interim Museum Director Meg Hagyard said they wanted to return to Silver City to show "how moved we are and how wonderful the actions of these three men were."
She showed a documentary about the theft put together by Arizona Public Media in 2015, which tells the original story.
Olivia Miller, curator of collections talked about the day the theft happened. "On a cool fall day, a woman and man came into the museum behind an employee, moments before it was scheduled to open. They came with a purpose. …The woman distracted the guard, while the man went upstairs and cut the painting out of the frame. He evidently rolled it up and put it under his jacket. When he came downstairs they hurriedly left."
In the documentary, it was said that although no one from that time period still works at the museum: "It haunts us still, even after 30 years."
The documentary recounted how when de Kooning created his Women series in the early 1950s, he departed from the abstractionism of the era, which was "adamantly abstract," with no story to tell. He created the abstract female figures, which no one else was doing at the time.
The U of A, with the theft, lost the chance to teach from the painting. Irene Romano, a professor of art, said in the documentary that art theft is the fourth highest grossing theft after drugs, human trafficking and arms.
The couple was seen driving away in a rust-colored sports vehicle. The woman wore a red coat and a scarf.
"We hoped it would come back, so we kept the frame," Miller said.
Romano said the return would bring a huge celebration, in the documentary.
After the documentary, Miller said that the entire collection of about 6,000 works at the museum have come directly or indirectly through donations.
Edward J. Gallagher Jr. of Baltimore donated the de Kooning Woman-Ochre. "He wrote to the U of A president and told him how as a child his family visited dude ranches in Arizona. He lost his only child at 13 years old and wanted to set up a memorial. He bought art work specifically for our museum over 20 years. And he left an endowment to be able to purchase more than 1,300 pieces over the years."
Gallagher bought the de Kooning from the Martha Jackson Gallery. "It was part of her private collection, but she agreed to sell it."
In 2015, on the 30th anniversary of the theft the museum commemorated it with a special session on art theft. "The press picked it up and wrote about it. It went all over the world."
Burns said when Van Auker came across the 2015 article about the theft on page four of a Google search, "he called out to me and asked me to come in. It felt like a download from God saying: 'You have it.'"
Van Auker called the U of A museum, all while Johnson was saying the painting wasn't real.
"I wanted to make sure I didn't across as some sort of idiot," Van Auker said. "I gathered myself together. I got a student receptionist who answered the phone. I told her I believed I had a piece stolen from the museum. She asked me what piece. I said: 'the de Kooning.' She said: 'Hold, please.' Olivia picked up the phone. I told her I was sitting at my computer comparing the painting on the computer with the painting we had. She said: "I'm hopefully optimistic.' I snapped some photos and sent them to her. The painting looked like it had creases and looked like it had been rolled up."
Van Auker said: "I sounded so calm saying: 'I'm sure it's it and we want to give it back.' Then everything went dark and we didn't hear back for a while."
"At our end, we were losing our minds," Miller said. "David sounded so calm.
When we saw the photo, we knew it was Woman-Ochre. Then when he started sending the close-ups, we knew it was it."
Hagyard said: "We were working with the U of A Police Department and a U of A counsel. It took 24 hours of behind the scenes work and negotiation. Friday afternoon, we loaded up two cars, personnel and packing material and crates. We arrived in Silver City at the home where it was being held for safe-keeping."
"It was a huge sense of relief when we saw it," Miller said. "It was surreal with the emotional ups and downs. We didn't know who Dave and Buck were. We didn't know Rick even existed. The FBI agent had told us to come over as soon as possible because 'the more time they have it, the more time they may want to keep it.' To see it in the flesh and that they still wanted to give it back; we were just highly relieved. It was 11 p.m. or midnight at this point. On Monday, Aug. 7, we traveled with it from Silver City back to Tucson to bring it home. At 2 a.m. we were at the Sheriff's station. We haven't eaten anything. It was Saturday and we were bringing it back. "
Kristen Schmidt, U of A Museum of Art registrar, said one of her serious duties is to travel with art work. "I got a text from Jill saying in all caps: 'Can I call you right now?' I'm out in front of the hotel yelling about the FBI. I was on my way back from Frankfurt, Germany. I got back Saturday, we planned to come over on Sunday. We were briefed about the painting. We had a convoy with New Mexico State Police, Grant County Sheriff and the University of Arizona Police Department leave Silver City on Monday. At the border, the NM state police traded with the Arizona State Police. The police were traveling with huge guns. We got it back to Tucson on Monday."
She said they couldn't open it for at least a day or two, so as not to shock the artwork with change in temperature or humidity. "I wasn't able to see the painting until Wednesday."
"It was amazing," Schmidt said. "It's been a very emotional thing for me. It's a huge moment in my career. This is one of my crying moments. I've had a lot this morning."
The museum brought in Nancy Overgaard, a world-renown conservator to inspect it.
"We were all pretty sure it was the real thing," Schmidt said, "but she did a thorough and deliberate inspection and confirmed it."
The details of the cut painting and the cuts on the framed remnants proved it.
"Monday, Aug. 14, Dave, Buck and Rick were thrust into the spotlight," Hagyard said. "The story was leaking, and we couldn't contain it."
A photo of a retired U of A police detective named Seastone who was working when the painting was stolen showed him when he got to see the piece after it was returned. It was an emotional moment.
"It was so emotional," Van Auker said. "At times I couldn't speak. It was surreal. They whisked us into the museum. I met amazing people who were there when the painting was stolen, and they thanked me. It still gets to me. It's one of the most amazing moments in my life. I'll never forget it."
Hagyard said the story was picked up internationally. "It has become the biggest U of A story over many years."
Burns showed a photo of his family. "My mother was the first person I called. She asked me in Spanish, if I would miss the money. I told her I never had the painting. I never wanted it. She said: 'I raised you right.' For all of us this is so special. When we were at the museum, they always told us we had to stand behind the ropes. Guys, I had this in my lap. My family is amazed at the whole thing. Tucson has been amazing to us. They invite us to so many things."
"The one thing that surprised me the most is that David is no longer socially anxious," Burns continued. "David has come out of his shell and Rick has gone into his. One of my most emotional moments was when Olivia called me. I wasn't aware they were going to bring the frame that it was cut out of to Silver City. I was weeping. I was bawling. The painting was on the wall and the frame was next to it. What was going through my mind was that this was the first time since it happened that they were together. It's just an amazing moment. And every time we've gone to the museum is phenomenal."
Schmidt said her primary mission is to take care of the collection. "When something happens, it doesn't go away. That feeling of loss is major. The fact that it came back. Thank you."
Haygard said former staff got to spend time with the painting. "What we've been doing over the past year. We got people back into the archives. Olivia shared the experience with the community. A lot of people have come back to celebrate. The mayor created a Woman-Ochre day to celebrate it on de Kooning's birthday."
Schmidt said: "This is a major process. We will try to reunite the two pieces. We have had three very reputable conservators. They have different processes. The FBI says the case has to close before we can send it to Los Angeles or New York or wherever. We have done X-rays through the painting and have gathered data from all over it. We will, as much as we can, include students in the project. It's a great educational opportunity." She showed a photo of a Ph.D. student doing paint analysis.
"The painting had gone through conservation before it was stolen," Schmidt said. "We had reports on previous work on it. It was wax-lined. The thief possibly had to separate it. We don't know what kind of solvent will be used. We probably will not keep the wax-lining that still exists."
Van Auker noted that the painting was not adhered to the frame but was stretched onto a kind of homemade stretcher and stapled to it.
Schmidt agreed that extra holes were due to the framing.
When it was in Silver City, it was kept at the Sheriff's office.
Does the Gallagher family know about what happened to the painting, an audience member asked.
"There are great-nieces and great-nephews and we are keeping them apprised, but they are far removed from it."
Ted Presler asked if DNA would help lead to the perpetrators.
Van Auker said they all volunteered their DNA.
He said when they got the phone call to deal with the estate, "I tried to pawn it off on someone else. Thank goodness we didn't. We just wanted a few things. We kind of crammed the painting into the top of the truck on top of other things. We planned to go out that evening to pick up the rest of the furniture. But then everything started happening."
"It was days before we got back there," Van Auker said. "We couldn't tell anyone that we still had the painting. We couldn't tell them it was gone. Maureen and Nancy, who are here, and thought it was the painting. We turned into good liars."
Burns said he put up a video on Facebook that they had U of A's stolen painting, but the FBI took it down. About Day 3, an artist came into the store. I"'m surprised you're still here. I said why. He said because of the millions you received. He said he couldn't believe we had put it in the window. It was never put in the window. We wrapped it up and hid it behind a cabinet. Then we put it in the store in the only room that locked—the bathroom for a few hours. Until we took it home and put it behind the couch."
The nephew of the estate came before the three of them bought the contents and taken a lot of items and donated them to the Silver City Garden Club store. As of now, the club has sold $170,000 worth of items, and there are still some items. That money will go to projects in the community.
The nephew told neighbors to take what they wanted, but they weren't artists and weren't interested.
An audience asked if the homeowners were the thieves. Burns said he believes them to be. Van Auker said they had the same car and they looked exactly like the drawings of the people. And she left her red coat.
"Most of us have come to our own conclusions," Burns said, "but the FBI hasn't closed the case, although it is close to doing so."
Van Auker said the first time he spoke to one of the FBI agents, Meredith, "we were out at the Cliff house and picking up more of the furniture. She said: 'You're actually at the house? I said yes, because we had bought the contents and it belonged to us.' She paused and said: 'So we don't need to get a search warrant?' She told us to load up everything. Three agents came down and went through everything. They searched everything donated to the Garden Club store, too. They documented that nothing else was stolen. Another painting sold at the store for $90,000."
Susie Trujillo who was born and raised in Silver City said: "We are proud to say these guys are from Silver City. They run their business with the same respect and compassion as they treated you. We are so proud to say you are ours. You are awesome."
Burns said he thinks it needs to be made into a movie, and "I want to play all the parts. I can do some mean make-up. We are thrilled we get to share our experience with everyone. "
"Only one person called us idiots, and my response was: 'Now we know your character," Burns said. "Everyone here has been amazingly supportive. I can't wait to see her hanging on your wall."
Van Auker said they go to Tucson every week and "I had no idea of this amazing museum." He encouraged everyone to visit the museum.