Recovery of Stolen Renoir Paintings

October 9, 2026 / 8:28 AM EDT / AFP Add CBS News on Google
Nice, France — Two paintings by French master Pierre-Auguste Renoir have been found, a month after they were stolen from a museum in southern France. The mayor of the town announced the recovery on Friday.

In September, thieves broke into the museum located in Cagnes-sur-Mer and managed to make away with two works by the French impressionist painter. As they fled, they left two other paintings behind.

Mayor Bryan Masson expressed the significance of the recovered artworks. These two paintings are not simply works of art. They are part of our city’s history, he stated. Knowing they have been recovered is an immense relief. As of now, the police have not released any statement.

An officer stands guard at the Musee Renoir’s entrance after the theft of three paintings during an early-morning break-in in early September. Valery Hache / AFP via Getty Images

Mayor Masson detailed the account of the break-in. The perpetrators cut through a fence to enter the museum’s tree-lined grounds, smashed a window to gain access inside, and used an electric saw to cut through the frame mountings.

A reliable source connected to the investigation informed AFP earlier this week that authorities had apprehended five individuals as part of the ongoing probe.

The Renoir Museum, located a half-hour drive from Nice, was Renoir’s final residence before he passed away at age 78 in 1919. The heist adds to a series of similar robberies in France, including the daytime theft last year of crown jewels worth approximately $100 million from the Louvre in Paris.