According to French local media reports, at least five people have been arrested in connection with the theft of two paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir last month.
As of now, two masterpieces stolen from the Renoir Museum in the suburbs of Nice have not been recovered. The thieves left behind two other works as they hurriedly left the museum.
This theft is the latest in a series of high-profile art thefts in Europe, making security issues for galleries and museums a focal point of attention.
It is reported that the suspect cut through the fence at dawn on September 8th, entered the museum’s tree-lined area, shattered a window, and entered the building. Then, he used an electric metal saw to cut open the frame fixing mechanism of the paintings.
Two missing paintings are "Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano" (1910) and "Girl by the Well" (1886).
Two paintings lost in the theft case at the Renoir Museum
According to the Nîmes Presse, which was the first to report the arrest news, five suspects may be "members of an organized criminal group." Some French media outlets, including the Nîmes Presse, reported that the number of arrested individuals is six.
The Renoir Museum houses 12 works by this famous painter. Opened in 1960, the museum was Renoir's last home before his death in 1919. It also displays many items that once belonged to him, including his easel, wheelchair, as well as photographs and personal letters.
In recent months, several museums and galleries in Europe have experienced significant theft incidents.
In August, paintings by Renoir, Paul Cézanne, and Henri Matisse were stolen from a museum in Italy. The entire theft process lasted only three minutes. These paintings were later recovered.
In October last year, one of the most significant incidents of this type occurred: French royal jewelry was stolen from the Louvre Museum under daylight conditions. The thieves disguised themselves as construction workers and broke into the Apollo Gallery on the first floor of the museum during museum hours. They used angle grinders to open the display cabinets and stole jewelry worth 88 million euros (approximately 660 million RMB), which belonged to queens and princesses from the 19th century. The Louvre later received criticism for insufficient security measures.
