Thieves stole four Pierre-Auguste Renoir paintings from the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer before dawn Tuesday, then abandoned two of them while fleeing, according to the town’s mayor and the Associated Press. Two works remain missing as police search for the perpetrators and an investigation proceeds.
Break-in through the garden
Mayor Bryan Masson told reporters at the scene that a group of “well-equipped” and “well-informed” burglars entered via the museum garden, slicing through a fence with an electric knife or saw, then getting in through the ground floor. He said the thieves cut the clips securing the artwork frames. His remarks were carried by local broadcaster Ici Azur and detailed in a written statement provided to the Associated Press.
Alarm and rapid response
Masson said the museum’s alarm went off at 5:48 a.m. local time and police arrived five minutes later. He credited the swift response with forcing the burglars to flee and limiting the scale of the theft. Two of the four stolen paintings were found in the museum garden, he said.
Two paintings still missing
Masson’s statement identified the missing works as “Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano” and “Young Woman at the Well.” A regional police administration official confirmed to the AP that the theft occurred and that a suspect search and investigation are underway, but could not confirm the paintings’ value.
Security warnings and wider context
Masson called for stronger protections for museums nationwide, warning in his statement that institutions face “a new form of organized crime targeting works of art.”
Art theft expert James Ratcliffe of the Art Loss Register told the AP that thieves are increasingly targeting valuable artifacts, including traditional art. He warned that without more funding for security, museums risk more thefts, and each incident can reinforce perceptions of these sites as easy targets.
The AP noted the theft came after a high-profile crown jewels heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris last year. The Renoir Museum is housed in the artist’s last home before his death in 1919; the mayor said the site held 12 Renoir works in total. The museum was closed Tuesday amid the investigation.
