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Dutch Jewish art dealer, Jacques Goudstikker, kept a record of his collection in the 1930s. One painting from that list has resurfaced in an Argentine real estate ad, but it vanished before authorities could recover it. The search is now on for "Portrait of a Lady," a work by Italian painter Giuseppe Ghislandi, which was looted from Goudstikker's collection 85 years ago.
The investigation began when Dutch journalists discovered the painting in a real estate ad for a luxury property in Buenos Aires. However, it disappeared before authorities could intervene. Interpol and Argentine police are now working to prevent the painting from disappearing again.
The focus of the search is on the seller of the luxury property: the daughter of Friedrich Kadgien, a high-ranking Nazi who fled Germany after World War II. Kadgien was a close advisor to Reichsmarschall Herman Göring and had two daughters who still live in Argentina.
"Portrait of a Lady" was one of nearly 1,000 works looted from Goudstikker's collection by prominent Nazis in 1940. After the war, parts of his collection were restituted to his daughter-in-law, Marei von Saher, but this painting remained missing. It is now on a list of Nazi-looted art and has been identified as one of the most valuable works still unaccounted for.
A Dutch journalist, Cyril Rosman, began searching for the painting 10 years ago after receiving a tip from a retiree whose father had worked at the National Diamond Bureau in Amsterdam during the war. The investigation led to Kadgien's daughters, but they have been elusive and have now changed their social media profiles.
The rediscovery of "Portrait of a Lady" highlights the ongoing issue of Nazi-looted art restitution. An estimated 600,000 artworks remain missing worldwide, and experts say that digitizing archival holdings could uncover more cases. The current search is a result of luck and hard work by journalists and the Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency.
Marei von Saher, Goudstikker's heir, has expressed her family's goal to recover every artwork stolen from their collection. With Interpol and Argentine police now involved, the chances of recovering "Portrait of a Lady" have increased.
