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| Art expert Ariel Bassano (left) with the Nazi-looted 'Portrait of a Lady' after it was retrieved by Argentine authorities from the daughter of an SS officer in the resort of Mar del Plata. —AFP |
Argentine Police Recover Nazi-Looted 18th-Century Painting ‘Portrait of a Lady’ After Property Ad Discovery
Argentine
Police Recover Stolen 18th-Century Painting Linked to Nazi Looting.
Art expert Ariel Bassano with the Nazi-looted 'Portrait of a Lady' after it was retrieved by Argentine authorities from the daughter of an SS officer in the resort of Mar del Plata. —AFPArgentine police have recovered an 18th-century painting stolen from a Dutch Jewish art collector over a...
Argentine
authorities have successfully recovered an 18th-century painting stolen
during World War II, more than a week after it was spotted in photographs
from a property listing. Investigators confirmed on Wednesday that the artwork,
titled Portrait of a Lady by Italian baroque painter Giuseppe
Ghislandi, was returned through the lawyer of the woman in whose home it
was last seen.
Prosecutors
explained that the painting had been photographed hanging in the living room of
Patricia Kadgien, the daughter of senior SS officer and financial
advisor Friedrich Kadgien, who fled to Argentina after the war.
According to art
expert Ariel Bassano, who examined the piece, the portrait remains in
“good condition for its age” despite being created in 1710. He estimated its
value at around $50,000, as reported by Argentina’s La Capital Mar
del Plata newspaper.
The discovery was
made when Dutch newspaper AD identified the painting in images of a
seaside house for sale in Mar del Plata, a resort city in Argentina. The
portrait of a noblewoman could be clearly seen above a green sofa, sparking
immediate international attention.
The work was
originally part of the vast collection of Jacques Goudstikker, a Dutch
Jewish art dealer whose gallery was looted by the Nazis during World War II.
More than 1,000 artworks were stolen from him, and many remain missing
to this day.
The excitement
surrounding the rediscovery quickly turned into confusion. Shortly after being
identified, the painting disappeared once again. When Argentine police raided
the property, no trace of the artwork was found.
Following several
failed searches, Patricia Kadgien and her husband were placed under house
arrest on Tuesday. Soon after, the missing painting was handed over to
authorities by her lawyer, finally resolving the mystery of its sudden
disappearance.
The recovery of Portrait
of a Lady highlights both the enduring trauma of Nazi-era art theft and the
ongoing global efforts to return looted artworks to their rightful heirs. The
case has drawn attention across Europe and South America, serving as yet
another reminder of the tangled legacy of cultural property stolen during
wartime.