Renoir Paintings Are Worth a Fortune, but Not when They’re Stolen
Prosecutors say the stolen Renoir paintings are worth about €9 million, and experts say selling the works on the black market would be difficult.
- Early Tuesday, two well-equipped burglars stole four paintings by impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir from the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France, cutting through a garden fence and climbing through a window.
- Experts describe such crimes as "Louvre-inspired," and Cagnes-sur-Mer Mayor Bryan Masson warned the incident should "serve as a warning about the protection of our museums."
- Masson estimated the combined worth of the stolen works at 9 million euros , though art theft expert James Ratcliffe noted selling such high-profile paintings is "almost impossible."
- Police opened an investigation into the theft by an organized gang, and while two paintings were recovered in the garden, two other works remain missing.
- A French parliamentary report found that only one in four institutions had an emergency plan, leaving cultural sites across France susceptible to similar criminal activity without stronger funding.
16 Articles
16 Articles
Renoir paintings are worth a fortune, but not when they’re stolen
Two Renoir paintings stolen from a small French museum have yet to be recovered but if the thieves are hoping to cash in on the artwork, they would be hard-pressed to find a buyer. Selling well-known, stolen art is impossible to do at an auction house or through other public channels without raising eyebrows. Even […]
Recent art thefts inspired by Louvre heist, art crime experts say
Art crime experts say last year's headline-grabbing Louvre heist seems to have inspired a rash of brazen art thefts, putting European museums holding valuable art in a tough spot. Thieves cut a hole in a fence and climbed through a window to steal four paintings from the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer on the French Riviera early Tuesday, local authorities said.
Four paintings by Impressionist painter Renoir (1841-1919) were stolen from a museum in southeastern France on the 8th. The thief reportedly stole the paintings, worth approximately 1.6 billion yen, in less than three minutes. The Associated Press and other news outlets reported the incident. The Associated Press…
France has been rocked by an art heist again. On Tuesday morning, thieves took two paintings by the Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir from...
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