The success of the “Pocket Luxury” exhibition, which was to end on September 29 at the Cognacq-Jay Museum, in the 3rde district of Paris, had led its management to extend it until the end of November. The sad decision: On Wednesday, November 20, at around 10.30am, four hooded men stole, in front of visitors, five collection boxes and snuffboxes by smashing the display case that contained them with an ax and a baseball bat. According to information from Worldsome of the stolen items had been on loan from the British Crown. The exhibition, which includes objects from the collection of Ernest Cognacq, benefited in particular from loans from the Château de Versailles and the Louvre.
A psychological unit has been set up by Paris City Hall, which filed a complaint, and the museum will remain closed until further notice for the purpose of the investigation. “No injuries were reported. The municipal police and the national police intervened immediately following the events”states the town hall in a press release. According to the office of the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, the amount of damage is being assessed. According to information from Worldthe loot would amount to one million euros.
The Anti-Bandit Squad has been referred to an armed robbery investigation by an organized gang, we have again learned The world.
The affair reignites the trauma of Parisian museums, which had not suffered such a break-in since the “theft of the century” that took place in 2010 at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris. At that time, five main paintings were stolen by Vréjan Tomic, aka “Spiderman”: Still life with candlestick, by Fernand Léger, The woman with the fanby Amedeo Modigliani, THE Pigeon with peasby Pablo Picasso, Olivier near l’Estaqueby Georges Braque, and Pastoralby Henri Matisse. Despite a lengthy investigation, none of these works have since been found. The prospect of getting hold of the precious objects stolen from the Cognacq-Jay Museum remains slim. Gold objects are often melted down and transformed.
