Renoir painting stolen from Dorotheum in Vienna, would go up for auction Wednesday

A painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (Limoges, 1841 - Cagnes-sur-Mer, 1919), a landscape titled Golfe, Mer, Falaises Vertes, was stolen Monday from the premises of the Dorotheum auction house in Vienna: it is a study dating from 1895. The painting was removed from its frame and removed by what, according to police in the Austrian capital, appear to be professional thieves. They were three men, caught on the auction house’s cameras, and then exited the building through three different exits. From initial reports, it appears that two of the thieves distracted the auction house’s security guards, while the third purloined the work. Two of the thieves were recorded on camera carrying two bags, suitable for carrying the work, which is small in size (it is 27 by 40 centimeters).

The faces of the perpetrators of the theft were also recorded: they were middle-aged men who acted barefaced. The theft took a few minutes to accomplish, and by the time the staff realized what had happened it was too late. Police would not explain how the thieves succeeded in the operation that allowed the work to be removed from the frame to avoid inspiring imitators.

The auction house has made no official comment; however, this is the first time a painting has been stolen from Dorotheum, which manages an estate of about 250,000 objects each year. The work was to be auctioned next Wednesday, with a valuation between 120 and 160,000 euros.

Pictured is the stolen Renoir painting.

Renoir painting stolen from Dorotheum in Vienna, would go up for auction Wednesday

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