Two paintings by Auguste Renoir stolen a month ago from a museum in the south of France have been recovered, the local town hall announced.
The works were seized on 8 September when thieves cut through a fence and smashed a window at the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, where the French impressionist lived during his final years.
The paintings – Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano (1910) and Jeune fille au puits (1886) – were recovered nearby after police traced the suspects, who used an electric saw to cut through frame mountings and dropped two works in the garden while fleeing.
Six suspects have been arrested in connection with the heist, the town hall said.
Mayor Bryan Masson, a member of France’s National Rally, praised the authorities, saying the recovery gives immense joy and profound relief for the city’s cultural heritage.
The theft follows a string of high‑profile art robberies in Europe, including the 2025 heist at a museum near Parma and the 2023 Louvre jewellery theft.
Experts say the Renoir Museum houses 12 of the painter’s works and is an important regional landmark; it opened in 1960 and features personal items such as his easel and wheelchair.
Earlier this year, paintings by Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse were stolen and then recovered from a museum near Parma.
France’s biggest art robbery was last October when thieves stole €88m worth of jewels from the Louvre’s Apollo Gallery.
