Paintings by Renoir, Matisse and Paul Cezanne stolen from Italian museum, perpetrators flee in three minutes

JAKARTA - A quick theft action shook an art museum in northern Italy. Three paintings by Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne, and Henri Matisse disappeared from the Magnani Rocca Foundation, near Parma, in an operation that was said to have lasted less than three minutes.

According to an Associated Press (AP) report published by HuffPost, which was quoted by HuffPost on Tuesday, March 31, the theft occurred on the night of March 22-23. Police said the perpetrator pried open the entrance, then took away three paintings worth millions of euros. The three are Fish by Renoir, Still Life with Cherries by Cézanne, and Odalisque on the Terrace by Matisse.

The private museum is about 20 kilometers from Parma. Local media reported that the perpetrators entered, took the painting, then fled through the museum garden. The alarm went off, but it was not fast enough to stop their actions.

The museum, according to local media, suspects that this theft was carried out by a structured and organized group. The suspicion is reasonable. The target is clear, the movement is fast, and what is taken is not random objects, but the works of three big names in the history of European art.

The Magnani Rocca Foundation holds a collection belonging to art historian Luigi Magnani. It also includes works by Dürer, Rubens, Van Dyck, Goya, and Monet. However, Italian art expert Claudio Strinati judged that the three stolen paintings were not the most important works of the three masters.

According to Strinati to AP, the stolen Renoir painting is indeed beautiful, but it is not among the most prominent works in the foundation's entire collection. He also opened the possibility of a cooler motif: extortion. In the case of art theft, he said, the stolen work can be used as a tool to pressure certain parties to ask for ransom.

This theft adds to the list of major thefts in European museums. Previously, thieves also took away jewelry and other items worth 88 million euros from the Louvre in Paris.

As of Monday, the museum had not issued an official statement on its website and could not be reached for comment because it was closed.

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Paul Cezanne painting - titled Still Life with Cherries and Peaches/ (Wikipedia)

Illustration: Still Life with Fish by Auguste Renoir (WikiArt)