An Italian portrait looted by the Nazis during World War II will be returned to the heir of a prominent Jewish art dealer, Jacques Goudstikker, after an Argentine court approved a deal. The agreement allows the daughter of a fugitive Nazi official, Friedrich Kadgien, to relinquish her claim to the artwork and avoid a criminal trial.
Marei von Saher, Goudstikker's sole surviving heir, has been searching for the painting, known as "Portrait of a Lady," for decades. Goudstikker's celebrated collection was sold under duress to Nazi officials after Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940. Goudstikker died in a shipwreck in May 1940 while fleeing Amsterdam with his family.
The painting resurfaced last year when Dutch reporters investigating Friedrich Kadgien, who fled to Argentina after the war, spotted the artwork in an online real estate listing for his daughter Patricia Kadgien's home. Kadgien and her husband, Juan Carlos Cortegoso, were charged with aggravated cover-up after authorities alleged they hid the painting despite knowing it was being sought by investigators.
Under the terms of the court-approved deal, Kadgien and Cortegoso agreed to give up any claim to the painting and consent to its return to von Saher. In exchange, they will avoid a criminal trial and will be under court supervision for two years. During this period, they must make payments to a hospital in Mar del Plata, Argentina, where they reside, and keep authorities informed of their whereabouts.
Experts have authenticated the painting, attributing it to Giacomo Antonio Melchiorre Ceruti. Its value is estimated at approximately 250,000 euros ($290,000). While Goudstikker's collection records identified it as a work by Giuseppe Vittore Ghislandi, an examination by Argentina's National Academy of Fine Arts reached a different conclusion.
Friedrich Kadgien, who served as a financial adviser to Hermann Göring, Hitler's second-in-command, handled foreign currency, precious metals, and the sale of confiscated property for the Nazi regime. An estimated 1,100 works from Goudstikker's collection were illegally sold to Göring. It remains unclear how "Portrait of a Lady" came into Kadgien's possession.
Kadgien died in Argentina in 1978 without being arrested or charged with war crimes. Von Saher, who resides in Greenwich, Connecticut, has agreed to allow the painting to be exhibited in Argentina before its return to her.
During raids on properties owned by Kadgien and her sister last year, Argentine police also seized two 19th-century paintings, along with other prints and engravings. Investigations are ongoing to determine if these items were also looted during World War II.