Renoir painting stolen before auction near Paris

[shenmue]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41456847

[democratisphere]

1. How does that happen?

Painting should have had huge Security. Estimate on the Renoir Painting seems very low.

[irisblue]

2. Thomad Crown Affair?

1999 version

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. How does one fence a stolen Renoir?

Or is it sold surreptitiously to a private collector (for whom it might have been stolen in the first place)?

[defacto7]

4. Very private collectors.

[MLAA]

5. I am so sorry to hear this. Greed is universal.

[lapfog_1]

6. the article says the painting was valued at $30,000 to $35,000

that makes no sense to me.

If this was a real Renoir painting, even a minor work, it should be in the $100s of thousands to millions.

And stealing such a painting only valued at $35,000 makes no sense either, given that only collectors who will NOT display it publicly or even privately would be in the market for a stolen painting (now famous if it wasn't before).

Something about this is weird.

[shenmue]

7. Hmm, yes

[gopiscrap]

8. yikes