Mar del Plata, Argentina – Argentine authorities have detained a woman linked to the family of former SS officer Friedrich Kadgien after a painting allegedly stolen during the Nazi regime was discovered advertised for sale in a property listing. The detention is part of a 72-hour examination pending a formal accusation hearing, according to the prosecutor’s office.
The painting, identified as “Portrait of a Lady” by Italian artist Giuseppe Ghislandi (1655-1743), originally belonged to Dutch Jewish collector Jacques Goudstikker. Its potential location surfaced when the Dutch newspaper AD spotted the artwork in photographs of a house for sale in Mar del Plata, 400 km south of Buenos Aires, owned by Kadgien’s descendants.
Despite four raids conducted on Monday, authorities have not yet recovered the painting. “So far the wanted picture was not found or delivered in judicial headquarters,” the Prosecutor’s Office stated.
The Kadgien family,through their lawyer Carlos Murias,acknowledged ownership of the artwork in a legal document,claiming it as part of their inheritance and asserting any related claims are time-barred. Murias described the attempted charge of “smuggling cover” as “a strange figure of a prescribed crime.”
During a search of a sister’s property, police seized two paintings from the 1800s, which are now undergoing analysis to determine if they are connected to Nazi-era art theft. Interpol and the Argentine Federal Police are involved in the investigation.The heirs of Jacques Goudstikker are actively seeking the painting’s return, as it is listed on international databases of missing artwork.Kadgien, known as the ‘Magician of Finance’ of the SS, died in Argentina in 1978.