Two Renoir Masterpieces Stolen in Overnight Heist at French Riviera Museum
Two Renoir paintings were stolen from a museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France. Thieves abandoned two others as they fled. Police are investigating.
French authorities have released images of four Pierre-Auguste Renoir paintings that were targeted in an overnight heist at a museum on the French Riviera, as investigators search for the perpetrators.
The theft occurred at the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, a town between Cannes and Nice. According to the regional prosecutor's office, two thieves cut through a fence, entered through a window, and removed the artworks in under three minutes, focusing on the museum's most valuable pieces.
Mayor Bryan Masson said the intruders used an electric tool to slice through the fence and entered through the ground floor. They then cut the clips holding the paintings before the museum's alarm sounded at 5:48 a.m. Police arrived within five minutes, forcing the suspects to flee in haste.
Two of the stolen works—"Portrait of Madame Pichon" and "Coco Reading"—were found abandoned in the museum's garden. Still missing are "Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano" and "Young Woman at the Well." The mayor estimated the combined value of the four paintings at €9 million ($10.5 million), though experts say the works will be difficult to sell.
The museum is housed in Renoir's former home, where the artist lived until his death in 1919. It is the town's most famous attraction.
At least two of the targeted works have a troubled past. "Young Woman at the Well" is believed to have been looted by the Nazis during World War II and was recovered in Bavaria in 1949. "Coco Reading" was given to a German soldier at the end of the war and later returned to France by Germany in 1994.
The Marseille prosecutor has opened an investigation into theft by an organized gang, with France's national office for trafficking in cultural goods joining the effort. The museum remained closed on Tuesday as the investigation continued.
Art theft expert James Ratcliffe of the Art Loss Register said underfunding leaves smaller museums particularly vulnerable. "The theft of the Louvre has demonstrated to everybody with criminal intent that museums are potentially soft targets," he said. He added that finding a buyer for the stolen Renoirs would be "almost impossible" without a pre-arranged plan.