Thieves broke into the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer on the French Riviera just before 6 a.m. on Tuesday, stealing four paintings by French Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir and abandoning two as they fled, local officials and police said. The museum, located in Renoir’s former home where he spent his last years until his death in 1919, was closed as investigations continue.
According to Bryan Masson, mayor of Cagnes-sur-Mer, the thieves gained entry by cutting through a garden fence using an electric saw or knife before breaking into the building. The museum’s alarm was triggered at 5:48 a.m., and police arrived within five minutes, prompting the burglars to flee hastily. Security footage captured two hooded individuals removing the paintings from their frames to facilitate their escape.
Of the four paintings taken, two were recovered in the museum’s garden during the thieves’ retreat. The remaining two remain missing. The stolen artworks still at large include “Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano,” painted around 1910, and “Young Woman at the Well” from 1886. Both belong to Paris’s Musée d’Orsay and had been loaned to the Renoir Museum. The recovered paintings were “Portrait of Madame Stephen Pichon” (circa 1895) and “Coco Lisant” (“Coco Reading”), a portrait of Renoir’s son Claude from 1905.
The museum’s collection comprises approximately 13 Renoir paintings, along with about 40 sculptures, furniture, and personal items related to the artist. While the exact value of the stolen works has not been officially confirmed, estimates suggest the group of paintings could be worth around £10 million.
Authorities in Marseille have opened a formal investigation into what prosecutors describe as an “organized theft” involving criminal conspiracy. Local police are working alongside national agencies to locate the suspects. Clues left inside the museum may assist investigators, but the case highlights ongoing challenges in safeguarding cultural heritage amid a rising wave of art thefts in France and across Europe.
Recent years have seen increasing incidents of high-profile museum robberies, including last year’s heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris where crown jewels worth over $100 million were stolen. Europol has noted a shift in art theft dynamics, with more opportunistic and violent crimes often coordinated via social media, replacing traditional specialist gangs.
Mayor Masson called the attack a “particularly serious” affront to the town’s history and heritage and emphasized the urgent need for comprehensive security measures. The French government introduced a new plan this summer aimed at enhancing museum protection, including mapping vulnerable sites and recruiting specialized police officers. Nonetheless, critics argue that funding and protocols remain insufficient to counter increasingly sophisticated criminal actions targeting artistic and cultural institutions.
The Renoir Museum, which opened in 1960, represents a significant cultural site preserving the legacy of one of France’s most celebrated painters. As the investigation unfolds, the museum remains closed while authorities work to recover the missing works and prevent further incidents.