Two thieves broke into a small museum on the French Riviera early Tuesday and fled with two valuable Renoir paintings, officials said, after abandoning two other stolen works in the garden as police closed in.
The break-in happened shortly before 6 a.m. at the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, where the suspects cut through a garden fence before entering the property and taking four paintings, Mayor Bryan Masson said.
An alarm was triggered at 5:48 a.m., and officers reached the scene five minutes later. Masson said police pursued the thieves, who dropped two of the paintings in the museum garden before escaping with the remaining two.
Police officers stand guard outside the entrance to the Musée Renoir after an early-morning break-in in which four paintings, together valued at nine million euros, were stolen. Two were recovered in the museum garden, while two remained missing, in Cagnes-sur-Mer on Sept. 8, 2026. (Valery HACHE / AFP via Getty Images)
“Attacking the Renoir Museum is attacking a part of the history and heritage of Cagnes-sur-Mer,” Masson said, while also urging stronger security measures for museums across France.
Surveillance footage showed two people entering the museum, and police continued searching for the suspects Tuesday.
Police tape secures the area near a hole in the outer fence of the Renoir Museum after thieves stole four paintings during an early-morning break-in, with two recovered nearby, in Cagnes-sur-Mer on the French Riviera, France, Sept. 8, 2026. (REUTERS/Manon Cruz)
The stolen works included “Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano,” “Coco Lisant” and “Young Girl at the Well,” according to the French newspaper Nice-Matin, which estimated the value of the paintings at about $10.5 million.
A view of the art Studio of Auguste Renoir at his former home, now the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-Sur-Mer, France. (Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
A regional police official confirmed the theft and search for the suspects to The Associated Press, but could not confirm the reported value. It was also unclear which two paintings the thieves abandoned as they fled.
The museum remained closed Tuesday while police investigated.
A French municipal police car is parked in front of the entrance of the Renoir Museum after four paintings were stolen by thieves in an early-morning break-in, with two recovered nearby, in Cagnes-sur-Mer, on the French Riviera, France, Sept. 8, 2026. (REUTERS/Manon Cruz)
The Renoir Museum is housed in the hilltop estate where French Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir spent the final years of his life and died in 1919.
The museum, which opened in 1960, sits in Cagnes-sur-Mer between Nice and Cannes on France’s Mediterranean coast. Its collection includes 13 Renoir paintings, about 40 sculptures, furniture and photographs.
Tuesday’s theft follows a series of museum robberies in France, including last year’s theft of crown jewels from the Louvre in Paris.
Thieves stole jewels valued at about $102 million from the Louvre in October, including a tiara that belonged to Empress Eugénie.
Europol said last month that art robberies in Europe have grown more violent and that some thefts once carried out by specialist gangs are now being committed by opportunists recruited through social media.
