After the discovery of a real estate poster that featured the photographs of painting that was stolen by the Nazis amid World War II, Argentina Police reportedly raided the property in a coastal neighborhood on Monday.
“Portrait of a Lady”, a painting which was stolen by Nazis, was seen in the said advertisement of the property. It was painted by the 17th-century Italian painter Giuseppe Ghislandi, which had been owned by Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, who died suddenly shortly after the war started, according to a story in the Dutch daily Algemeen Dagblad.
His collection had well over 1,000 pieces of art and had been bought by Hermann Göring along with other Nazis at exceptionally cheap rates. Based on the records from 1946, Friedrich Kadgien was the chief adviser of Göring and was the last owner of the painting before he relocated to Argentina during the war.
Before Kadgien’s daughter placed her Argentine property in Mar del Plata for sale and the brochure photographer took a picture of the painting in the backdrop, authorities reported the artwork missing. Prior to reporting to the local officials, Dutch news outlet made an attempt to communicate with the daughter of Kadgien shortly after the masterpiece in the online poster was discovered.
They seem to have taken action too late, though. According to reports, the artwork was not found during the raid and is no longer on exhibit.
Carlos Martínez, a prosecutor revealed to the local media that a tapestry had been installed in its place:
“The painting is not in the house. It’s evident that where we previously discovered a tapestry, not long ago, there was something else.”
Given the fact that the war ended over eighty years ago, the pursuit for illegal Nazi loot continues to drag, and Kadgien has been recognized as a beneficiary of these kinds of artifacts. The Dutch media outlet believes that after the war ended, the ex-SS member escaped to Switzerland and underwent interrogation by US military personals.
The military personals who branded him “not a true Nazi, but a snake of the lowest order,” along with “appears to possess substantial assets, could still be of value to us.” After the war, Kadgien launched a small company in Argentina prior to passing away in 1978.
Following the featuring of the painting in a real estate listing, a local company Robles Casas & Campos removed it from their official website. Requests for comment as well as further details are still waiting for any response from the agency. Algemeen Dagblad journalists tried to reach Kadgien’s daughter on WhatsApp but were denied access.
Annelies Kool and Perry Schrier of the Netherlands’ Cultural Heritage Agency informed the paper that:
“There’s no reason to think this could be a copy. The dimensions also seem to match the information we have. Definitive confirmation can be obtained by looking at the back of the painting; there may still be marks or labels on it that confirm its provenance.”
Since there is lack of proof, the police have not officially incriminated the daughter of Kadgien but, given the fact that the Nazis exploited it as part of their genocidal crimes, prosecutors have no time limitations on pressing charges. If the painting goes up for auction, internet art merchants will be alert.
Daughter-in-law Marei von Saher told the paper:
“My search for the artwork of my father-in-law, Jacques Goudstikker, began in the late 1990s and I have not given up to this day. It is my family’s goal to recover every artwork stolen from the Goudstikker collection and to restore Jacques’ legacy.”
