Two paintings by the French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir have been stolen from the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-mer in the South of France. The thieves took four paintings but dropped two as they fled, according to latest reports on the BBC. The mayor's office said the estimated value of the stolen art was €9m. The museum was contacted for comment.
Bryan Masson, the town’s mayor, said: “The museum’s alarm was triggered at 5.48am [...] At 5.53am, just five minutes later, our municipal police were on the scene [...] The perpetrators are being actively sought and the investigation is ongoing. Attacking the Renoir Museum is attacking a part of the history and heritage of Cagnes-sur-Mer.”
The museum has a collection of 13 Renoir paintings and around 40 sculptures on display. According to the mayor’s office, Madame Colonna Romano (1910) and Jeune femme au puits (Young Woman at the Well (1886) are the two paintings that are missing. The other paintings reportedly taken were Portrait of Madame Pichon (1895) and Coco Lisant (1905).
Masson reportedly said that the thieves “were wearing helmets, gloves and combat gear” and carried “an electric knife and hacksaw” as they entered the museum gardens by cutting through a fence.
The Renoir heist follows a number of thefts at major museums across Europe. Last month four works by the Renaissance master Antonello da Messina were stolen from the Museo Regionale di Messina in the artist’s hometown in Sicily.
The exhibition Renoir and Love, which includes more than 40 paintings, opens next month at the National Gallery in London (3 October-31 July 2027).
