Renoir Museum Burglary: Two Artworks Recovered, Entry Through Fence, Here’s an Update on the Investigation

Two of the artworks stolen from the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer this Tuesday, September 8, have been found intact by police. The initial haul consisted of four paintings estimated at nine million euros. An update on an investigation that is progressing hour by hour.

The Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer was the subject of a theft of four original Renoir works this Tuesday, September 8. Two of them were found in the museum’s garden, in the Collettes estate. The haul was initially estimated at nine million euros.

At 5:48 a.m., the Ramses alarm system detected the intrusion at the Renoir Museum. Five minutes later, municipal police were on the scene, but the two perpetrators had already fled. Taking advantage of a change in the guards’ rounds, the burglars cut the fence of the Collettes estate before breaking a glass door on the ground floor. Using an electric saw or knife, they then cut the security pistons of the frames, then cut the canvases directly along their edges.

Two works saved, two others missing

Rushed by the triggering of the sirens, the two suspects being sought abandoned half of their haul in their escape. Officers found intact the Portrait of Madame Stephen Pichon (1895) and Coco Reading (1905). The Anti-Banditry Brigade (BRB) is still tracking the other two masterpieces.

The first, Madame Colonna Romano (1910), depicts Pierre Renoir’s companion. The second, Young Woman at the Well (circa 1886), is an unfinished work with a troubled past, likely looted by the Nazis during World War II.

According to experts, these famous paintings and internationally referenced works are completely “impossible to sell on an official market“, which points the investigation toward a commissioned theft. The Marseille public prosecutor’s office announced the opening of an investigation for theft and organized gang conspiracy, entrusted to the JIRS (specialized interregional jurisdiction).

A series of misfortunes in France

As the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes, Jean-Marie Girier, and a delegation from the Ministry of Culture visited the site this afternoon, the shockwave extends beyond the Côte d’Azur. This heist is part of a national wave of art thefts.

In less than a year, France has experienced the theft of the Crown Jewels at the Louvre in October 2025, that of the Vix Treasure and the Lalique Museum last July. As for the Nice metropolitan area, these are usually just burglaries. The last major heist occurred in September 1998 at the Jules Chéret Fine Arts Museum.

The mayor of Cagnes-sur-Mer, Bryan Masson, has called on the State to provide emergency financial support, recalling that municipalities can no longer bear alone the cost of securing their art collections.