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A small-town couple left behind a stolen painting worth over $100 million — and a big mystery
https://www.washingtonpost.com ^ | 8/3/18 | Antonia Farzan

Posted on 08/05/2018 9:50:52 AM PDT by BBell

Jerry and Rita Alter kept to themselves. They were a lovely couple, neighbors in the small New Mexico town of Cliff would later tell reporters. But no one knew much about them.

They may have been hiding a decades-old secret, pieces of which are now just emerging.

Among them:

After the couple died, a stolen Willem de Kooning painting with an estimated worth of $160 million was discovered in their bedroom.

More than 30 years ago, that same painting disappeared the day after Thanksgiving from the University of Arizona Museum of Art in Tucson.

And Wednesday, the Arizona Republic reported that a family photo had surfaced, showing that the day before the painting vanished, the couple was, in fact, in Tucson.

The next morning, a man and a woman would walk into the museum and then leave 15 minutes later. A security guard had unlocked the museum’s front door to let a staff member into the lobby, curator Olivia Miller told NPR. The couple followed. Since the museum was about to open for the day, the guard let them in.

The man walked up to the museum’s second floor while the woman struck up a conversation with the guard. A few minutes later, he came back downstairs, and the two abruptly left, according to the NPR interview and other media reports.

Sensing that something wasn’t right, the guard walked upstairs. There, he saw an empty frame where de Kooning’s “Woman-Ochre” had hung.

At the time, the museum had no surveillance cameras. Police found no fingerprints. One witness described seeing a rust-color sports car drive away but didn’t get the license plate number. For 31 years, the frame remained empty.

In 2012, Jerry Alter passed away. His widow, Rita Alter, died five years later at 81.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Arts/Photography
KEYWORDS: arizona; jerryalter; newmexico; ofarizona; ritaalter; stolenpainting; tucson; willemdekooning
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To: tbw2

Thanks for sharing...that was excellent!!


81 posted on 08/05/2018 4:43:05 PM PDT by mass55th (Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway...John Wayne)
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To: Lazamataz
"Yes. I see hooters. I'd hit that painting. "

It looks like you already did Laz.

82 posted on 08/05/2018 4:44:36 PM PDT by mass55th (Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway...John Wayne)
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To: Republicanprofessor
"You just can’t put it in your purse and walk off."

There's a documentary on this theft on Youtube. The woman distracted the guard while the man went upstairs and cut the painting out of its frame. The painting ended up with cracks in the paint indicating that it had been rolled up.

I would estimate the size as about 30 inches wide by 36 inches tall. It was hidden in the suspect couple's master bedroom behind the entrance door on a small section of wall not visible from outside the room.

83 posted on 08/05/2018 9:32:33 PM PDT by William Tell
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To: P.O.E.

Yes it looks like the crap on the walls of the set on serling’s Night Gallery.


84 posted on 08/05/2018 9:35:46 PM PDT by robowombat (Orthodox)
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To: William Tell

I was wondering about cutting it out of the frame. I just don’t get it when people do that. There’s a reason there’s the extra canvas going around the stretcher to hold it in place. If you love a piece, why come close to destroying it to get it out of the frame? I just hate that.

Thanks for the info, though. Glad you saw the documentary.

Despicable people.


85 posted on 08/06/2018 5:34:36 AM PDT by Republicanprofessor
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To: Windflier

Okay, I’ll bite. The way I judge art is not about how “realistic” it is. I suspect that is your criteria, and that of many FReepers. I did a series on Art Appreciation on this site years ago, trying to open some minds.

The criteria I use is whether the form (what it looks like) and the content (the meaning) is any good. I know the history of how de Kooning re-interpreted the female figure. He saw women as strong and goddess-like, as seen in his Woman I series. They are no longer sex goddesses, which we’ve seen for hundreds of years in Western art, painted by men for men to enjoy. In this work, the breasts are very strong, but not necessarily sexual. I like the way they emerge from the deep darkness, in a primeval way, almost cave-like. It helps to know the series and how his work evolves. It is fresh and different.

I’m sick of tacky “impressionist” crap that goes for art nowadays. Not the real Impressionists, but the Sunday art fair stuff. De Kooning has something to say (content) that is dark and deep and more meaningful than just another pretty landscape.


86 posted on 08/06/2018 5:44:07 AM PDT by Republicanprofessor
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To: Hostage

I thought that too

Alter is the surname which could be they were Jews too

However....that is a 1955 painting

Most of the artists work is post WWII

And in their pic they don’t look Jewish

So new theory.

Maybe they just liked De Koonig

A lot


87 posted on 08/06/2018 5:55:51 AM PDT by wardaddy (Hanged not hung.)
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To: wardaddy

Yes, your timeline does indeed discount the Nazi-stolen art line of investigation. The painting also doesn’t seem to be worth what it is said to be worth.

I think Lurkina.n.Learnin in post #10 has a very plausible cause for explaining what went down. My view of Lurkina.n.Learnin’s reason is that it makes sense as an inside job too. The painting had to be kept out of view and the couple were known to be reclusive. Makes sense they were in on it.

We all love a good mystery. I’ll just add that high-priced paintings may be used in money laundering. “Where’d you get all that money? Why, I sold a painting!” John Podesta was in Europe late last year buying up untold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of paintings. Such paintings can be better than cash. You can’t insure cash unless it’s inside an insured bank, but you can insure a painting inside a bank or not.


88 posted on 08/06/2018 8:09:41 AM PDT by Hostage (Article V (Proud Member of the Deranged Q Fringe))
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To: Republicanprofessor
De Kooning has something to say (content) that is dark and deep and more meaningful than just another pretty landscape.

Ridiculous. A jumble of random brushstrokes has no more 'meaning' than any pile of junk in a landfill.

Maybe that's art to you, too.

89 posted on 08/06/2018 10:40:51 AM PDT by Windflier (Pitchforks and torches ripen on the vine. Left too long, they become black rifles.)
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To: BBell; LegendHasIt; leapfrog0202; Santa Fe_Conservative; DesertDreamer; OneWingedShark; ...

NM list PING!

I may not PING for all New Mexico articles. To see New Mexico articles by topic click here: New Mexico Topics

To see NM articles by keyword, click here: New Mexico Keywords

To see the NM Message Page, click here: New Mexico Messages

(The NM list is available on my FR homepage for FR member use; its use in the News Forum should not be for trivial or inconsequential posts. Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)
(For ABQ Journal articles requiring a subscription, scroll down to the bottom of the page to view the article for free after answering a question or watching a short video commercial.)

90 posted on 08/06/2018 4:13:59 PM PDT by CedarDave (DJT: "Rather take a political risk in pursuit of peace than risk peace in the pursuit of politics.")
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To: Republicanprofessor

You are a rarity: An art professor who is NOT a raging progressive. I doff my cap t’ ye.


91 posted on 08/06/2018 6:04:28 PM PDT by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: tbw2

I agree with him.

I also found several articles that said modern art was financed/supported/promoted by the CIA as part of the Cold War.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/modern-art-was-cia-weapon-1578808.html


92 posted on 08/06/2018 10:44:29 PM PDT by Tammy8
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To: BBell

Did the museum a favor getting that crap out.


93 posted on 08/06/2018 10:52:27 PM PDT by anton
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To: Republicanprofessor

A couple of things.

I am struck by the balance between tension and calm that de Kooning achieved in this piece, how he precisely reconciled slashing lines, shapes and color to achieve such visual harmony. I really like the impact it makes on the eye as well as on the mind.

It takes exposure to appreciate things. A simple example. I knew nothing of Jazz music until I was in college when I needed some credits and took a semester of the history of jazz. Wow! I absolutely loved it and learned to appreciate the complexities of a musical form unfamiliar to me, and it changed my perception of music altogether.

And finally this:

De gustibus non disputandum est
In matters of taste, there can be no disputes


94 posted on 08/07/2018 5:58:47 AM PDT by aligncare ( Make America Great Again: kick a NeverTrumper to the curb)
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To: Hot Tabasco

The FBI is busy with the coup. They don’t have time for regular crime.


95 posted on 08/07/2018 6:05:16 AM PDT by mad_as_he$$ (If I knew when I was going to need my gun, I wouldn't need my gun.)
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To: aligncare

Thanks for your positive comments!

I feel the same way about jazz. I would often put it on when doing dishes as just some background music. Ironically, my highly talented son entered jazz studies at a well known music school and he has gotten me even MORE into jazz. Plus he has taught me to listen much better.

Learning to listen and to look is essential to life, and the greater reason why the Humanities should still have required courses in college.


96 posted on 08/08/2018 9:05:21 AM PDT by Republicanprofessor
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