Argentine Court Orders Return of Nazi Looted Painting to Jewish Heir

An Argentine court has ordered the restitution of an 18th century painting titled Portrait of a Lady to Marei von Saher, the sole heir of Dutch Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker. The artwork was looted during the Holocaust and disappeared over 80 years ago. The painting was discovered by chance in 2025 after journalists from the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad spotted it in photographs within a real estate advertisement for a home in Mar del Plata. The residence belonged to Patricia Kadgien, the daughter of Friedrich Kadgien, a former senior Nazi official who served as a financial adviser to Hermann Göring and fled to Argentina after the war. While initially attributed to Giuseppe Ghislandi, a court ordered examination by Argentina's National Academy of Fine Arts determined the work was actually painted by Giacomo Antonio Melchiorre Ceruti. The painting is valued at approximately 250,000 euros. Patricia Kadgien and her husband, Juan Carlos Cortegoso, were charged with aggravated concealment for hiding the painting. Under a court agreement, the couple will relinquish all claims to the work and avoid a criminal trial. In exchange, they will remain under court supervision for two years and make payments to a children's hospital in Mar del Plata. Von Saher has requested that the painting be displayed publicly in Argentina to raise awareness about Nazi looting before it is transferred to her possession. Friedrich Kadgien died in 1978 without ever being tried for war crimes.