Renoir

Portrait de femme à la robe rose by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

This Renoir was stolen in an elaborate Theft by Deception confidence scheme where the victim was convinced to exchange the painting and its Certificate of Authenticity for what was purportedly a $1.5M (CAD) collection of Jade statues.  The exchange took place in Paris in 2014 and the victim quickly discovered that the Jade was worthless. 

The theft was reported to the Brigade de répression du banditisme and the Institute Wildenstein as well as the author of the Renoir Catalogue Raisonné for inclusion as “stolen property”. Moroccan police arrested the fraudster along with an accomplice who was an ex-drug smuggler, somewhere between Tangier and Gibraltar, while in possession of a large sum of money.

The victim was paid $1M (CAD) by his insurance company who retained Art Recovery International to recover their asset.

The Renoir surfaced in 2021 in the hands of a Parisian dealer who purchased the painting with no certificate, no invoice, and only a copy of the seller’s passport.  The dealer had a deal on the table to sell the Renoir which could not go through due to the 2014 criminal complaint and the Insurer’s interest.  Christopher A. Marinello, working with his French colleague, negotiated a swift resolution to the title dispute allowing a sale to go through with the majority of the proceeds returned to Underwriters.