Thieves steal three paintings from Renoir Museum on French Riviera
· CNA · JoinRead a summary of this article on FAST.
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
PARIS: Thieves stole three paintings from the Renoir Museum on the French Riviera early on Tuesday (Sep 8), the local mayor said.
The raiders broke into the museum a little before 6am (12pm, Singapore time) and took four paintings, Cagnes-sur-Mer mayor Bryan Masson said on his Facebook page.
Police spotted the thieves and gave chase, during which they dropped one painting but escaped with the other three, he said.
"Attacking the Renoir museum is attacking a part of the history and heritage of Cagnes-sur-Mer. These actions are particularly serious," Masson said in his message.
He added that his office estimated the value of the stolen works at 9 million euros (US$10 million).
The museum was created in 1960 in the mansion of the impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir on a hill in Cagnes-sur-Mer, near Nice, where he died in 1919.
The collection on display in the museum includes 13 paintings from the master and some 40 sculptures, furniture and photographs.
Masson did not identify the paintings that were stolen. Renoir's most valuable works have fetched dozens of millions of dollars at auctions in the past.
Art thieves in Europe are committing more violent robberies and specialist gangs have been replaced by ad hoc opportunists recruited through social media, pan-European police body Europol said last month.
The heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris in October last year was a prime example of this, Europol said, as the thieves threatened guards and visitors and stole €88 million (US$102.3 million) worth of jewels, such as Empress Eugenie's tiara.
Sign up for our newsletters
Get our pick of top stories and thought-provoking articles in your inbox
Get the CNA app
Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories
Get WhatsApp alerts
Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app