realestate

Lost Nazi-looted artwork resurfaces in real estate ad

Portrait of a Lady" once belonged to Jewish art collector Jacques Goudstikker, stolen during WWII.

A
long-lost 18th-century painting looted by the Nazis has been recovered after it was spotted in a recent Argentinian real estate listing. The "Portrait of a Lady," attributed to Italian artist Giuseppe Ghislandi, had belonged to Jewish art collector Jacques Goudstikker before being stolen during World War II. It was part of the Goudstikker Collection, which comprised over 1,100 works of art.

    The painting resurfaced after it appeared on a real estate website last month, hanging above a velvet sofa in a virtual tour of a property for sale in Mar del Plata, Argentina. Authorities seized the portrait from the Kadgien family's home this week, following an investigation by Dutch journalists who had been tracking down Friedrich Kadgien, a high-ranking Nazi official who fled to Argentina.

    Prosecutors carried out four raids on locations belonging to the Kadgien family and placed Patricia Kadgien and her husband under house arrest pending a formal hearing. The couple's lawyer handed over the painting to authorities, which is now in the hands of federal prosecutors.

    The portrait will be made available for public viewing, according to prosecutor Daniel Adler, who credited community members with prompting the investigation. Goudstikker's daughter-in-law, Marei von Saher, has been searching for the artwork since the late 1990s and hopes to recover every piece stolen from her family's collection.

Painting looted by Nazis during WWII appears in real estate advertisement unexpectedly.