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The Miami Art Journal

The House

Four Renoirs Stolen in French Riviera Museum Break-In

The Editors ·

Four Renoirs Stolen in French Riviera Museum Break-In

Thieves breached the Musée Renoir in Cagnes-sur-Mer, the former home of the artist, during the early hours of the morning, making off with four paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The break-in occurred when perpetrators smashed a window to gain access to the institution on the French Riviera. In their haste to escape, the individuals dropped two of the stolen works in the museum’s garden, leaving them behind as they fled the scene.

The mayor of Cagnes-sur-Mer, Bryan Masson, described the perpetrators’ demeanor as professional, noting they used what appeared to be an electric saw to sever the bolts securing the frames to the wall. The theft has been valued at an estimated €9 million, which The Guardian reports is equivalent to $10.5 million. The incident marks a significant loss for the museum dedicated to the French Impressionist’s work.

Surveillance cameras captured the fleeing pair abandoning at least one of the paintings, providing crucial evidence for the investigation. The town’s municipal police responded quickly to the alarm, arriving on the scene just five minutes after it was triggered at 5:48 a.m. Masson credited the city’s police force for their rapid response to the disturbance.

This event occurs against a backdrop of increasing violence in museum crimes across Europe. The report notes a surge in such incidents, including a broad daylight theft of crown jewels from the Louvre in Paris in October 2025 that resulted in losses of $102 million. These crimes highlight the growing vulnerability of cultural institutions to organized and violent theft.

The recovery of the two paintings left in the garden offers a partial mitigation of the loss, though the remaining four works remain missing. The incident underscores the challenges faced by museums in protecting high-value artworks from sophisticated criminal operations. The investigation continues as authorities review the footage and evidence collected at the site.

Source: Artforum