Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 6, 1990                   TAG: 9007060017
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PARIS                                LENGTH: Medium

5 PARIS MUSEUMS CLOSED

The city's major museums will remain open, but security will be tightened, said Jacques Sallois, director of national museums. Authorities plan to examine existing security systems and develop new ones similar to those used in banks.

Police said it was possible that the same person or group hit all three museums during a span of several hours Wednesday, moving from one museum to another in the middle of the day.

In addition to the Renoir, an 1816 painting by Paul Huet was stolen from the Carnavalet Museum, and an 1870 work by Ernest Hebert was stolen from a museum named after the artist.

The Hebert was one of the five museums closed as of Thursday to individual visitors. The others - also relatively small institutions focusing on the works or the collections of a particular individual - are the Eugene Delacroix, Gustave Moreau, Jean-Jacques Henner and Ennery museums.

From now on, group visits to these museums must be arranged in advance, Sallois said.

Police have complained previously that museum officials were not aggressive enough or candid enough in dealing with security. Sallois, who took his post only five weeks ago, vowed this would change, and said art theft would no longer be a "taboo subject" for public discussion.

The Louvre's director, Michel Laclotte, said the theft of Renoir's "Portrait of a Seated Woman" (1890-95) appeared to be the work of an "especially clever" professional.

"The canvas was very thin, the cutting instrument was probably extremely sharp and caused so few vibrations that the electronic sensor did not pick them up," he said.