Two paintings by the famous artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir, stolen a month ago from a museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer in the south of France, have been found in France. This was announced on October 9 by the city's mayor, Bryan Masson, reports Deutsche Welle.
Bryan Masson called the discovered canvases not just works of art, but part of the city's history and cultural heritage. According to the mayor, the news of their discovery brought great relief. Masson did not disclose where exactly the paintings were found, but highly praised the work of the investigators.
Two days prior, the arrest of six suspects in the museum robbery was announced.
The crime occurred early on the morning of September 8. Two unknown individuals broke into the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, but, realizing they had been caught on surveillance cameras, decided to flee. On their way, they abandoned two of the four stolen canvases in the garden — 'Portrait of Madame Stéphane Pichon' and 'Coco Reading', which depicts the artist's youngest son, Claude Renoir.
The perpetrators managed to take two other paintings — 'Madame Colonna Romana' and 'Young Woman by the Well'. Their total value is estimated at eight million euros. The investigation was conducted in secrecy to track down possible masterminds of the theft.
The Renoir Museum opened in 1960 in the villa where one of the leading representatives of Impressionism spent the last years of his life. Its collection also includes works by other French artists, including Aristide Maillol, Pierre Bonnard, and Raoul Dufy.
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