The Thief Collector

The year is 1985 and the place is Arizona. A painting is stolen from the university museum. The painting is Willem de Kooning’s Woman-Ochre. The thief cuts the canvas out of its frame. Then the trail goes cold. Thirty two years pass. The painting turns up in a house in New Mexico. The house belongs to Jerry and Rita Alter. Both of them are retired teachers. The painting had been hanging in their bedroom. Its value is put at a hundred and sixty million dollars. The documentary sets out to find who this couple were. Neighbours and relatives are interviewed. Part of the story is carried by dramatised scenes. Glenn Howerton and Sarah Minnich play in the reconstructions of the ninety six minute documentary, an American production Allison Otto finished in 2022.