After multiple failed attempts, Argentine police have recovered a painting that the Nazis looted from a Dutch Jewish art dealer during the Holocaust.
Dutch journalists first spotted the painting, “Portrait of a Lady” by Giuseppe Ghislandi, last month in an ad for a property being sold by a daughter of Friedrich Kadgien, a Nazi finance official who fled to Argentina after World War II. But when police entered the home to locate the work, one of more than 1,000 looted from the holdings of Jacques Goodstikker, it had been removed from the wall.
The police placed Patricia Kadgien on house arrest while searching for the painting. And on Wednesday, they announced that the family’s lawyer had handed over the painting to authorities.
“It’s in good condition for its age, since it dates from 1710,” an art historian, Ariel Bassano, said at a press conference where the painting was displayed, according to the newspaper La Capital Mar del Plata. “Its value could be around $50,000.”
The newspaper reported that authorities had found other paintings in the process of looking for “Portrait of a Lady” and are evaluating whether any others were looted during the Holocaust. Friedrich Kadgien was instrumental in funding the Nazi regime’s operations by stealing Jewish property, including by forcing owners to sale at depressed prices.
The forced sale of Goudstikker’s collection took place months after the prominent art dealer died while fleeing the Netherlands. Hundreds of the works he owned were recovered decades ago, but far more remain missing.
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