Edgar Degas Painting Stolen From the Cantini Museum in Southeast France

Written by Daily Mail Reporter Thursday, 31 December 2009 21:02

PARIS - Police say a painting by Impressionist Edgar Degas worth about euro800,000 ($1.15 million) has been stolen from an exhibit in Marseille. A police official says the painting, "Les Choristes," (or "The Chorus Singers"), was stolen overnight from the Cantini Museum. The official was not authorized to be publicly named because of police policy. The French national museum authority said the painting — a small pastel painted in 1876-77 — is worth euro800,000. It belongs to the famed Musee d'Orsay in Paris, known for its impressionist works. A security guard discovered it was missing when opening the museum Thursday morning. The museum is closed Thursday while the theft is being investigated.

The colourful pastel, titled "The Chorus", shows a group of singers performing on a theatre stage. It was missing when staff arrived on Thursday morning at the Cantini Museum in the southern port city of Marseille, Jacques Dallest, a prosecutor, said.

The national museums service said the picture was worth €800,000 euros, correcting an estimate given by local police that it was worth some €26 million.

Earlier this year a sculpture by Degas of a young ballerina sold for a record £13.3million at auction in London.

Loaned by the Musée d'Orsay in Paris for an exhibition featuring some 20 works by Degas that was due to close on Jan 3, it measures 13 inches by 10. Mr Dallest said it had been unscrewed from the wall. The show was due to close on Sunday before touring to Italy and Canada. The Chorus, which dates from 1877,  is a small work in bright pastels portraying a row of male choir singers on stage.

"As far as I know there was no break-in," he said, adding that investigators suspected an intruder, a visitor to the exhibition or an inside job.

Maurice Di Nocera, the city councillor responsible for organising major events in Marseille, called the theft "a disaster for the museum".

The museum was closed on Thursday while police pursued their investigations, including examining film from security cameras.

The Musée d'Orsay, which has been loaning out many works in recent months to raise funds, declined to comment on the theft.