page_title: Colin McCahon
section_title: Works stolen
hierarchical_section_title: Colin McCahon / Legacy / Works stolen
caption_attribution_description: English: Colin McCahon image
context_page_description: Colin John McCahon was a prominent New Zealand artist whose work over forty-five years consisted of various styles including landscape, figuration, abstraction and the overlay of painted text. Along with Toss Woollaston and Rita Angus, McCahon is credited with introducing modernism to New Zealand in the mid twentieth century. He is regarded as New Zealand's most important modern artist, particularly in his landscape work.
context_section_description: In June 1997, the Urewera Mural, a triptych, was stolen from the reception of the Department of Conservation Āniwaniwa Visitor Centre at Lake Waikaremoana.
  It was eventually determined that the painting had been stolen by Tuhoe activist Te Kaha and an associate Laurie Davis. After missing for 15 months, it was returned in August 1998 after negotiations involving arts patron Jenny Gibbs, Te Kaha, and Tuhoe member Tame Iti. It required more than $5,000 worth of repairs once it had been returned. It was finally returned to the visitors' centre in September 1999. When it was stolen, the mural was thought to be worth $1.2 million but that figure was later revised upward to $2M.
  In late 2006 manuscripts, including seven Colin McCahon poems, along with a Charles Goldie painting, and an unbound copy of the Oxford Lectern Bible, were stolen from the University of Auckland Library during the Christmas break. It was believed that the thieves broke into a secure room at the Library by prying open a locked window. Art experts and police said at the time that it would be difficult to sell the paintings in New Zealand or overseas as anyone who knew about the artists would be very suspicious. By October 2007, all the stolen items, valued at over $200,000, were returned. Negotiations between police and a man who knew the thieves concluded the case. Following this incident, security was increased at the library.
caption: Cover image of McCahon documentary
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