Home · World · Sep 8 archive
Renoir Paintings Stolen in Museum Heist on French Riviera
Confirmed
In Short: Four Renoir paintings worth millions were stolen from a museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, near Nice, early Tuesday morning.
Two thieves broke into the museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, near Nice, a little before 6am (0400 GMT) and took four paintings, Mayor Bryan Masson said in a post on social media on Tuesday.
Spotted thanks to the town’s video surveillance cameras, the two individuals fled, abandoning one of the stolen paintings as they ran, according to Masson.
The museum alarm went off at 5:48 am. At 5:53 am, just five minutes later, our municipal police were on the scene.
Investigators found two zippered bags in the museum garden that may have belonged to the suspects.
The theft comes less than a year after eight items valued at about $100m were stolen during a daylight robbery from the famed Louvre Museum in Paris.
What's confirmed
What's still developing
- The four suspected Louvre robbers have been arrested, but the stolen items have still not been found despite extensive searches by French investigators in the Paris region and exchanges with police in Belgium, Italy and beyond.
- The two thieves had attempted to steal a fourth painting, but abandoned it as they ran from the museum.
- Three paintings have been stolen from a museum dedicated to French impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir in southern France in an early morning burglary.
- The Renoir Museum was opened in 1960 in the painter’s last home before his death in 1919.
- Its collection includes objects and furniture that belonged to Renoir, including his easel and wheelchair, as well as 13 paintings and some 40 sculptures made by the master.
- International sales of French shows for 2025 fell to €164.2M ($190.7M), down 21.6% on the €209.6M recorded in 2024.
- Looking at where deals are getting done, almost half of sales of French shows are to buyers in Western Europe.
- There was also a punchy presentation following the sales figures that showed French shows are highly visible on platforms and broadcasters around the world, with a wide global presence.