SANTA FE, N.M., Dec. 18 (UPI) -- New Mexico authorities are looking for a missing oil painting by Georgia O'Keeffe, one of the most important American artists of the 20th century.
The early O"Keeffe work, a small oil painting of Palo Duro Canyon made between 1916 and 1917, has been valued at more than $500,000. It vanished from the New Mexico Museum of Fine Arts in Santa Fe early Tuesday afternoon, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports.
The piece was one of four works by O'Keeffe on display in the museum. It is a small painting (13 1/2 inches-by-16 1/4 inches) which could be concealed inside a coat.
Art dealer Gerald Peters, an O'Keeffe expert, called it "a very important piece" and one that is so well documented it would hard to sell.
Police decline to say whether they have a suspect in mind.
