Two Stolen Renoirs Found Behind a Cinder-Block Wall as Police Say Suspects Eyed the Fondation Maeght

The paintings were behind a wall of concrete blocks in a house in Clermont-l'Herault, and they had been missed in the first search. On 14 October, police in southern France gave the fullest account yet of how two Renoirs stolen from a small museum on the Riviera were found, and of what they say the suspects planned next.

The thieves struck the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, near Nice, on 8 September, taking four paintings and abandoning two in the garden as they fled, The Art Newspaper reports. Six people, a woman among them, were arrested in early October.

Which Renoir paintings were stolen?

The two works still missing were a 1910 portrait of the actor Gabrielle Colonna-Romano and "Jeune femme au puits" (Young Woman at the Well), from 1886. Agence France-Presse, in a report carried by The Star on 13 October, put the pair's value at 4.2 million euros. The Art Newspaper also mentions a loan from the Musee d'Orsay and describes the recovered works as in rather good condition. The AFP report adds that the frame of the Young Woman at the Well was slightly damaged and that the canvas of the portrait is torn on the dress, so both will need restoration.

How were the Renoirs found?

Investigators identified a 29-year-old main suspect through DNA on the protective covering of a painting left in the garden. Police were already tracking his vehicle over alleged drug offences. After the arrests, one suspect told investigators where the paintings were hidden, according to prosecutor Nicolas Bessone, who described them as completely undetectable behind the wall. Four men, aged 29 to 51, are under formal investigation, and AFP says two remain in custody, while three of the four have prior convictions.

What was the Fondation Maeght connection?

Eric Antonetti, head of the judicial police in the Alpes-Maritimes, said investigators saw the main suspect visit the Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, a foundation known for works by Matisse, Giacometti, Miro and Calder. Antonetti said the group was clearly planning another criminal operation, which is why police moved to arrest them. AFP reports that the arrests were brought forward after the suspect's reconnaissance visit.

A source quoted by The Art Newspaper said there was no outside mastermind, and described the suspects as opportunists unsure what to do with the paintings. AFP likewise says investigators found no sign of a buyer or sponsor. Those are the investigators' accounts, and the suspects are presumed innocent unless convicted.

The case lands in a country still unsettled by museum thefts. AFP links it to a run of French heists, including last year's Louvre robbery, in which crown jewels valued at about 100 million dollars were taken and have not been found. For small museums, the question is whether the recovery of these two Renoirs will bring the money for better security that the theft exposed.