Thieves Strike Museum on French Riviera

Thieves have stolen Renoir paintings worth over $10 million from Musée Renoir in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France. The heist has raised concerns about art safety in European museums. Two individuals were spotted on surveillance footage entering the museum and stealing four artworks. The town’s mayor, Bryan Masson, detailed the event, noting the thieves were well-prepared and bypassed security by cutting a fence.

The museum’s alarm activated at 5:48 a.m., with police responding in five minutes. Masson stated this quick action limited the theft’s impact, forcing the culprits to leave two paintings behind as they fled. However, Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano and Young Woman at the Well remain missing.

Value of Missing and Recovered Paintings

The French newspaper Nice-Matin identified the abandoned paintings as Portrait of Madame Pichon and Coco Reading. The stolen paintings’ estimated value is around €9 million ($10.5 million), but clarity on whether this amount applies to all or just the missing artworks is lacking. Efforts to recover the missing pieces are underway, with a heightened emphasis on security.

Previous High-Profile Art Heists in Europe

Other notable thefts recently occurred in Europe:

• In 2025, French crown jewels valued at €88 million ($102 million) were taken from the Louvre Museum in Paris. Thieves disguised as construction workers accessed and departed from the Apollo Gallery in eight minutes through a window via a basket lift.
• In 2026, thieves stole works attributed to Renaissance painter Antonello da Messina from Sicily’s MuMe Museum, bypassing security systems. The stolen works were estimated at €70 million ($81 million) to €80 million ($92 million).
• In Limoges, 2025, porcelain works, designated as “national treasures,” valued at €9.5 million ($11 million), were taken from the Adrien Dubouché National Museum.
• In March 2026, highly-valued paintings were stolen from the Magnani Rocca Foundation near Parma, Italy. Italian police recovered the paintings recently, valued at €6 million for Cézanne’s Still Life with Cherries, €3 million for Renoir’s Fish, and €20,000 for Matisse’s Odalisque on the Terrace.

The incidents emphasize the vulnerability faced by museums even with advanced security, highlighting concerns voiced by Masson regarding organized crime targeting art in France and beyond.