Renoir Artworks Worth Millions Stolen in Five-Minute Heist in France

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• Hyperallergic ↗Other source

  Renoir's “Madame Colonna Romano” and “Jeune femme au puits" (both images via Wikimedia Commons , CC BY-SA 4.0 ) A pair of thieves made off with two paintings from the Renoir Museum in southern France during a break-in early this morning, September 8. The duo initially stole four of Renoir's paintings from the galleries but dropped two in the museum's garden while being chased by police. The operation lasted only five minutes, according to a statement from Mayor Bryan Masson of Cagnes-sur-Mer, who told French media that the burglars were “well equipped and well informed,” as the pair used an electric saw to cut through the museum's exterior fence and the clips securing the paintings' frames. The museum's alarm automatically notified the local police, who arrived on the scene and chased the burglars across the property on foot. The pair made off with Pierre-Auguste Renoir's “Madame Colonna Romano” (c. 1910) and “Jeune femme au puits (Young Woman at the Well)” (c. 1886) — two lesser-known oil paintings by the Impressionist. They tried to take “Madame Stephen Pichon” (c. 1895) and “Coco Lisant” (c. 1905) as well, but ultimately left them behind. Per Masson's office, the value of the co

  Close Read · Sep 9, 1:04 AM