Recovered Renoirs damaged, four men charged in theft

Two Renoir paintings stolen last month from the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer turned up behind a solid cinder-block wall in a house in the southern town of Clermont-l'Hérault. Marseille prosecutor Nicolas Bessone said on Monday that both works are damaged and will need restoration. Police arrested six people, one of them a woman, on Wednesday, Oct. 7, and recovered the paintings the next day, Bessone told reporters.afp+2

Bessone said investigators found the paintings using DNA evidence and vehicle-tracking data. Police moved up the arrests because they had a "very strong suspicion that another heist was imminent".ksltv+1

Damaged, but "relatively good condition"

The works are "Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano" and "Young Woman at the Well." Bessone said they were "in relatively good condition," but the portrait's canvas has a tear "on the dress," and the frame of the other painting was slightly damaged. He valued the two at about 4.2 million euros, or $4.7 million. France's Culture Ministry said specialists in Marseille will examine the paintings under the scientific supervision of the Musée d'Orsay, which owns them. No date has been set for their return to the museum.elledecor+3

"They were completely undetectable," Bessone said of the hiding place. Police found the paintings only on a second search, after the man who received them confessed.cbsnews+1

DNA and a tracked car

On Sept. 8, thieves cut through a fence with an electric saw and climbed in through a window. They took four paintings, but police arrived four minutes after the alarm went off, and the thieves dropped two of the works, "Madame Pichon" and "Coco Reading," as they fled. DNA on the protective cover left with the dropped paintings matched a 29-year-old man. He was already under investigation for drug trafficking, and police were tracking his car in that case. The tracking data showed that soon after the theft he and a 41-year-old man drove to a third man's home, Bessone said.reuters+1

On Oct. 3, the 29-year-old visited the Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul-de-Vence. He then met a man known to police from art theft and forgery cases in 2001 and 2003. The suspects deny planning a second raid. Bessone said he did "not believe the principal suspect visited that museum simply out of a love of art".ksltv+2

Charges and wider concerns

Four men, aged 29 to 51, face preliminary charges. The two suspected of carrying out the burglary were charged with organized theft and criminal association and are being held in jail. Both deny wrongdoing. The man who hid the paintings and the man who was approached about buying them were charged with handling stolen goods and released under judicial supervision. Prosecutors released two other people without charge. Eric Antonetti, who heads the judicial police for the Alpes-Maritimes department, said the suspects appear to have had no buyer or sponsor lined up.afp+2

The case follows other thefts from French museums, including last year's theft of crown jewels from the Louvre, which have not been recovered. Christian Sainte, head of France's national judicial police, said organized gangs "repeatedly" target France's cultural heritage. He said French museums recorded 23 thefts in 2025 and about 10 so far this year.ksltv+1