Mayor Says Stolen Renoir Paintings Recovered

Cagnes-sur-Mer Mayor Bryan Masson said Friday that two paintings by Auguste Renoir, stolen from the town’s museum in September, have been recovered. His announcement did not say where or how the works were found, or describe their condition. The paintings are Madame Colonna Romano and Jeune femme au puits, also known as Young Woman at the Well. The works belong to the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and have been on loan to the Renoir Museum since 1995, according to information given by France’s culture minister at the time of the theft. The mayor’s office said six suspects had been arrested in connection with the theft. A source close to the investigation, however, told AFP that five people had been arrested. Police and prosecutors had not publicly provided details of the recovery in the reports. The theft took place in early September at the museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, near Nice. Thieves took four paintings but abandoned two as they fled, according to accounts of the burglary. The other works, identified as Madame Pichon and Coco lisant, were left behind.