Nazi-Looted Italian Masterpiece Surfaces in Argentina after Decades

English , International - بین الاقوامی , Snippets , / Wednesday, August 27th, 2025

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Buenos Aires, August 27 – A portrait looted by the Nazis during World War II has resurfaced in Argentina more than 80 years after it was stolen from a prominent Dutch Jewish art dealer.
The painting, Portrait of a Lady (Contessa Colleoni) by Italian baroque artist Giuseppe Ghislandi, was identified in an estate agent’s listing for a seaside property near Buenos Aires. The discovery was first reported by Dutch newspaper AD, which traced the work after an extensive investigation aided inadvertently by the property’s online photos.
The painting originally belonged to Jacques Goudstikker, a leading Dutch dealer who fled the Nazi invasion in 1940 and later died in an accident during his escape. His collection of over 1,100 artworks, including numerous old masters, was seized in a forced sale by Hermann Göring. While some pieces were returned to his heirs in 2006, Portrait of a Lady remained missing.
Research suggests the painting ended up with Friedrich Kadgien, a Nazi official linked to Göring, who escaped to South America after the war and died in Argentina in 1978. Attempts to contact Kadgien’s descendants have failed. Experts reviewing the estate agent photo believe the work matches the missing original, though physical verification is required.
Another missing painting from the same collection—a still life by Dutch artist Abraham Mignon—may also be linked to Kadgien’s family.
The Goudstikker estate has pledged legal action to recover the artwork. “Our mission is to bring back every piece stolen from Jacques’ collection,” said Marei von Saher, the dealer’s daughter-in-law, who has pursued restitution for decades.