Reward Posted For Stolen Painting

A painting by Georgia O'Keeffe is missing from a state-owned museum and authorities have posted a reward for its return.

The painting, titled "Special #21 (Palo Duro Canyon)," was discovered missing Tuesday by a security guard at the Museum of Fine Arts, officials said Wednesday.

Investigators offered a "substantial reward" but would not disclose the amount. They would not discuss a possible motive or value of the painting.

Santa Fe art dealer Gerald Peters, who has bought and sold more than 200 O'Keeffe works, said the painting is worth more than $500,000. But he added that the painting is "not marketable because it's so well documented. It's kind of a crazy theft."

Stuart Ashman, the state's cultural affairs secretary, declined to discuss the museum's security system but said all protocols had been followed.

The oil painting measures about 13 inches by 16 inches. It was painted by O'Keeffe in 1916 and given to the museum by the artist's estate in 1993, the museum said.

Ashman said the painting, depicting an area near Canyon, Texas, is particularly significant because it's an early example of her abstract work.

O'Keeffe, an icon of early American modernism, is known for works featuring huge flowers, bleached bones and landscapes of the country around her northern New Mexico home in Abiquiu.

The museum is in downtown Santa Fe, just a few blocks from the privately owned Georgia O'Keeffe museum.