Renoir paintings worth millions stolen in French museum heist — SkimNews
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- Two thieves broke into the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer early Tuesday, stealing four paintings each worth €9 million before dropping two during their escape
- Mayor Bryan Masson said CCTV captured the suspects cutting through a fence into the museum gardens, then cutting through the paintings' frame structures; the alarm sounded at 05:48 and police arrived within five minutes
- The thieves, described as "well-equipped" and "well-informed," wore helmets, gloves, and combat gear and carried an electric knife and hacksaw; investigators also found two zip-up bags at the scene
- "Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano" (1910) and "Jeune fille au puits" (1886) remain missing, while "Portrait of Madame Pichon" (1895) and "Coco Lisant" (1905) were recovered from the gardens
- The Renoir Museum, opened in 1960 in the painter's last home before his 1919 death, houses 12 of his works plus his easel, wheelchair, photographs, and personal letters
- Masson called on the French government for more funding to protect museums from "increasingly organised and determined criminals," linking the theft to the October 2024 Louvre crown jewels heist and last month's theft of four Renaissance paintings from a Sicily museum
Why it matters: With two €9 million Renoir paintings still missing and the thieves apparently well-prepared, the heist intensifies pressure on French authorities to fund museum security — Mayor Masson explicitly connected the robbery to a broader European pattern that includes the Louvre crown jewels theft and a Sicily museum heist, demanding government action before more priceless works vanish.
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