Italian Police Recover Three Stolen Cézanne, Renoir and Matisse Works

Italian police have recovered three works by Paul Cézanne, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Henri Matisse about five months after they were stolen from the Magnani Rocca Foundation near Parma. The Carabinieri’s cultural heritage protection unit found the art during searches authorized by prosecutors in Parma and neighboring provinces; it was in the possession of one suspect, police said. Five people were detained and are believed by investigators to belong to an organized group linked to numerous property thefts.

The recovered pieces are Cézanne’s pencil-and-watercolor “Still Life with Cherries,” Renoir’s painting “Fish” and Matisse’s color aquatint “Odalisque on the Terrace.” Authorities valued them at just over €9 million in total.

The theft took place overnight on March 22-23. Footage showed intruders removing the works and fleeing through the gardens within minutes. Investigators also recovered a pickaxe and fire extinguisher whose serial numbers had been erased. Forensic officers reconstructed those numbers and connected the items to an apartment building accessible to an alleged gang member. The foundation houses the collection assembled by art historian Luigi Magnani, alongside works by artists including Goya, Monet and Rubens.