TWO THIEVES HAVE broken into a museum dedicated to French impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir in southern France, stealing four artworks and dropping one as they fled. 

The museum is located in the town of Cagnes-sur-Mer, around 15km southwest of Nice.

“This morning, two individuals broke into the Renoir Museum and stole four works of art,” said Bryan Masson, the town’s mayor and a member of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party.

“Spotted thanks to the town’s video surveillance cameras, the two individuals fled, abandoning one of the stolen paintings as they ran,” he said.

The art studio of Auguste Renoir at his home Les Colettes, now the Musee Renoir in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

His office estimates the value of the stolen works at €9 million. 

The Renoir Museum was opened in 1960 in the painter’s last home before his death in 1919.

Its collection includes objects and furniture that belonged to Renoir, including his easel and wheelchair, as well as portraits, landscapes and nudes painted by the artist.

The museum is where the painter lived from 1908 until his death in 1919. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Masson said it took just five minutes for the authorities to respond.

“The museum alarm went off at 5:48 am. At 5:53 am, just five minutes later, our municipal police were on the scene,” he said.

The theft comes less than a year after eight items valued at around €88 million were stolen during a daylight robbery from the Louvre in Paris.

The four suspected Louvre robbers have been arrested, but the stolen items have still not been found despite extensive searches by French investigators in the Paris region and exchanges with police in Belgium, Italy and beyond.