Slashed, Dashed, and Stashed: The Intersection of Art and Science in the Conservation and Recovery of Willem de Kooning’s Woman-Ochre

The lootings of famous artworks and artifacts from museums and archaeological sites alike have long been presented as the pinnacle of Hollywood action films (Ocean’s Twelve anyone?) or the symbol of diplomatic deadlocks that are wrapped up in miles of court documents and decades of legal controversy. But the 1985 theft of Willem de Kooning’s Woman-Ochre is living proof that savvy art thieves are not simply the creation of star Hollywood directors. 

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In this heist, two suspects—a man and a woman—entered the University of Arizona Museum of Art (UAMA) and robbed Woman-Ochre in under fifteen minutes. The piece was hidden from the world until it was discovered in an antique store in New Mexico in 2017. Painted in 1955, Woman-Ochre is a part of de Kooning’s controversial Woman series, a series of six paintings that explores the female figure and employs techniques of layering and applying paint during the rise of Abstract Expressionism in the United States. Under de Kooning’s expressive and spontaneous brushstrokes lie the microscopic secrets of the artist’s famous painting process, his chosen materials, and the severity of the painting’s theft.  

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de Kooning’s Woman-Ochre (author’s image)

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After its discovery in 2017, Woman-Ochre was in desperate need of specialized conservation. As such, in 2019, UAMA announced that “the painting would travel to the Getty Center for study, repair, cleaning, conservation, and documentation.” Woman-Ochre’s conservation is a fascinating art historical case study that highlights the fine lines between art and science. Without the technologies and properties of science, the efforts of art conservationists around the world would come to a standstill and the legacies of our world’s artists could risk extinction. But what specific scientific methods and technologies were used to restore this painting to its former glory? 

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With the help of X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, the Getty Center Institute’s (GCI) team of scientists and conservators were able to decipher the specific chemical elements present in the paints de Kooning used in his work. The goal of utilizing XRF in painting conservation is, as described by ThermoFisher Scientific, to determine the “elemental composition of materials” by “determin[ing] the chemistry of a sample” according to the “set of characteristic X-rays (‘a fingerprint’) that is unique for that specific element.” For example, in the calcium map of Woman-Ochre shown below, we see not only the horizontal striations that call attention to the painting’s “‘dire condition’” (as the thieves ruthlessly rolled up the painting during the heist, flakes of paint fell off from the canvas) but also bright spots around the woman’s head and upper torso that reveal de Kooning’s the chalk, zinc, and lead white ground and preparation layers of the canvas (by virtue of de Kooning’s scraping of “unwanted paint”). 

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Calcium map of Woman-Ochre

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Analysis with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), another technological form of appraisal, revealed that de Kooning applied a combination of oil and industrial house paints to his work along with various tools and materials, such as charcoal. As the Getty Museum writes in their study of the painting’s conservation, the presence and combination of “raised impasto in several areas” (characteristic of artist’s oil paints),with a fluid, fast-drying film (typically present in industrial house paints), are further evidence of the artist’s vast choice of material. Even preliminary scientific analysis into this painting unveiled that many different yellow pigments, such as cadmium yellow, chromium yellow, strontium yellow, barium yellow, and zinc yellow—all of which are typically found in commercial mixtures—make up the woman’s pigmented torso. 

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Furthermore, the use of a thermal separation probe (TSP) answered many conservationist’s questions about the differences between de Kooning’s use of oil and industrial paints, especially in relation to the glossy black paint that outlines the woman’s breasts and figure. According to the Getty foundation, the TSP analysis found high levels of pine rosin and phenanthrene (C₁₄H₁₀) in this black paint, the “chemical marker of coals.” Even without the use of TSP analysis to discover the presence of phenanthrene in this paint, the Getty also highlights how, when seen with the naked eye, “coal-based glossy black paints have an almost obsidian-like quality and they shimmer on the canvas.”

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While some paints, like the shimmering high-gloss of Woman-Ochre’s outline, remain brightly pigmented and visible to this day, others, such as the red toward the bottom of the woman’s legs and around her shoulder have become muted over time. Through microfade testing (MFT) and a tungsten XRF map, conservationists were able to discern how susceptible the various pigments in the painting are to sunlight damage and experiment with different polar solvents in order to remove the natural resin varnish, or damar, that the thieves added to the surface of the painting. 

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With all the chemical analysis complete, it was time for the conservationists to engage in the painstaking process of repairing the painting. Their main objective with the conservation of de Kooning’s painting was to make it structurally sound—especially as the canvas, frame, and original paint had been compromised by the robbery—and leave it in pristine condition in order to be presented to the public once more. This was a lengthy process, as the structural treatment of the canvas took Laura Rivers, an Associate Conservator with the Getty, about 2 years to complete. This was followed by the painting of each individual crack with chemically stable, “reversible conservation pigments” or conservation colors—a minimally invasive material that is able to be removed in the future—in a process called inpainting. While the conservation colors cannot be perfectly matched to de Kooning’s original colors, Getty conservationists attempted to find the closest match that will allow the viewer to enjoy the painting as though it was in its original state. 

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I had the fortunate opportunity to see this painting when it was on view in the Getty Center in the summer of 2022. The exhibit—carefully curated with text blurbs, photographs of the various XRF maps, sketches of the suspects, and a video reconstructing the conservation process—is proof of art’s insurmountable dependence on science as not only a tool for recovery but also as a method of creation. 

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Though this painting ultimately received its happy ending, the story of Woman-Ochre is one of trials and triumphs that is woven within the strong fibers of its canvas. It is one that has been and will be told and seen through many different lenses and lights, one that gives us a chance to interpret and understand de Kooning’s mysterious painting, and one that allows us to appreciate the interdisciplinary nature of art conservation as a rich tapestry of art and science.

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There is no doubt that Woman-Ochre’s recovery allows us to see the art world in a new light and a new way, through the lens and light of the very microscopes and scientific technologies that helped conservationists to repair it. For it is the efforts of these women and men that breathed life into this painting once more. 

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