Two paintings by Auguste Renoir stolen from a museum on the French Riviera have been recovered and six suspects arrested, the local town hall confirmed.
The works were taken on 8 September during a raid on the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, a town in the south of France where the French Impressionist painter spent his final years.
Thieves cut through a fence and smashed a window to gain entry. Once inside, they used an electric saw to cut through frame mountings and initially made off with four paintings. Two of the works were abandoned in the museum's garden as the thieves fled.
The two paintings that remained missing were the Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano (1910) and Jeune fille au puits (1886).
Both works have now been recovered. Six suspects have been arrested in connection with the heist, the town hall confirmed in a statement.
Mayor Bryan Masson welcomed the news. "These two paintings are far more than works of art. They are part of our city's history, our cultural heritage and the legacy Auguste Renoir left to Cagnes-sur-Mer," he said.
The town hall had initially announced it would provide further details of the recovery on Friday but cancelled a planned press conference.
The Renoir Museum is home to 12 of the painter's artworks. Opened in 1960, it also houses objects that once belonged to him, including his easel and wheelchair, as well as photographs and personal letters.
The theft was the latest in a series of high-profile art heists across Europe. Earlier this year, paintings by Renoir, Paul Cezanne and Henri Matisse were stolen from a museum near the Italian city of Parma in a raid that lasted just three minutes. Those works were recovered in August.
France also saw a major art robbery last October, when crown jewels were stolen in broad daylight from the Louvre in Paris. Disguised as construction workers, thieves broke into the museum's Apollo Gallery during opening hours, using an angle-grinder to open display cases. They made off with jewels valued at 88 million euros, pieces that once belonged to France's 19th-century queens and empresses. The Louvre was subsequently criticised for under-investing in security.
