BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentine police conducted a raid on a villa in a tranquil seaside resort on Tuesday as part of an investigation into a 17th-century Italian portrait believed to have been looted 80 years ago from a Jewish collector by a Nazi officer who fled to Argentina after World War II. This inquiry sheds light on a dimly remembered chapter of Argentina’s history, marked by the country’s acceptance of numerous Nazis who escaped Europe to avoid prosecution for war crimes, including prominent figures in the Holocaust like Adolf Eichmann.
During the regime of Argentine General Juan Perón, who ruled from 1946 until 1955, many German fascists brought with them looted Jewish possessions, encompassing gold, bank accounts, paintings, sculptures, and furnishings. The ongoing saga of those items, including stolen art from World War II, persists in the media as Argentina continues its slow process of restitution.
The painting at the center of this investigation is titled “Portrait of a Lady,” created by the Italian Baroque artist Giuseppe Vittore Ghislandi. Dutch reporters from the newspaper Algemeen Dagblad discovered an image that appeared to be this artwork in a real estate listing for a house allegedly owned by the descendants of Nazi fugitive Friedrich Kadgien. The painting was reportedly seen hanging above a green velvet sofa in the living room of a brick chalet located in Mar del Plata, a coastal town in Argentina.
The real estate agency, Robles Casas & Campos, did not respond to inquiries, but the listing remained active late Tuesday despite the image of the portrait having been removed. The day after the reporters' observation, Argentine authorities executed a raid on the property in question.
Federal prosecutor Carlos Martínez informed The Associated Press that the painting was not located during the raid; however, authorities confiscated other items potentially valuable to the investigation, including weapons, engravings, prints, and period reproductions. Investigators are considering potential charges related to concealment and smuggling.
The “Portrait of a Lady” was originally owned by Jacques Goudstikker, a Jewish art dealer in occupied Amsterdam, before the Nazis seized his gallery following the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940. Historical accounts maintain that numerous artworks were unlawfully appropriated from private Jewish dealers, and Goudstikker’s collection was forcibly sold to Hermann Goering, Adolf Hitler’s second-in-command.
Marei von Saher, Goudstikker’s sole surviving heir, has been advocating for the restitution of her father-in-law’s stolen artworks and achieved a significant victory in 2006 when the Dutch government agreed to return 202 looted paintings from Goudstikker’s collection after a lengthy legal battle.
The Dutch archive cataloging missing WWII art records that “Portrait of a Lady” came into the possession of Friedrich Kadgien. Research into German Federal Archives shows that Friedrich Gustav Kadgien was a Nazi party member responsible for managing foreign currency and assets confiscated from Jewish people under Goering’s direction. After the fall of the Nazi regime, Kadgien escaped to Switzerland and then Argentina, where records indicate the Kadgien family became involved in various business activities in the years following. He passed away in Buenos Aires in 1978, having evaded prosecution for his involvement with the Nazi regime throughout his time in Argentina.
