Nazi-looted masterwork spotted in Mar del Plata property ad – before disappearing

A 17th-century masterwork allegedly stolen by the Nazis from a Dutch Jewish art collector re-emerged this week in pictures of a house for sale in Argentina – only to disappear again.

The painting, believed to be Portrait of a Lady by Italian baroque portraitist Giuseppe Ghislandi (1655-1743) was identified by the Dutch newspaper AD in a picture of a house for sale in the seaside resort of Mar del Plata.

The authenticity of the painting cannot be proven until it is recovered but it is believed to have been stolen from Amsterdam art dealer Jacques Goudstikker during World War II.

In the for-sale notice of the house in Mar del Plata, published by Robles Casas & Campos realtors, the painting was seen hanging in the living room, above a green sofa. 

After AD announced the discovery on Monday, federal prosecutor Carlos Martínez ordered a search of the residence on Tuesday.

But while firearms were seized during the raid, the painting had disappeared. 

"The painting is gone. Only a carbine and a .32-calibre revolver were seized," the prosecutor told reporters at the scene.

The property is linked to the family of the late Friedrich Kadgien, known in his time as the "financial wizard" of the SS, Nazi Germany's paramilitary force.

His heir, Patricia Kadgien, has not been formally charged, although her lawyer, Carlos Murias, told La Capital, a local newspaper in Mar del Plata, that she and her husband were available for questioning.

Neither Kadgien or her lawyer commented on the whereabouts of the painting.

Goudstikker's heirs are determined to recover the painting, which appears on an international list of missing artworks. 

"My search for the artwork of my father-in-law, Jacques Goudstikker, began in the late 1990s and I have not abandoned it to this day," his daughter-in-law, Marei von Saher, 81, told the paper.

The Netherlands' cultural heritage agency, dedicated to the identification, tracking, and restitution of cultural objects stolen by the Nazis, lists the painting as missing on its website. 

It looks identical to the work that appeared in the Argentine for-sale ad, which has since been removed from Robles Casas & Campos' website.

The estate agency did not respond to a request for comment.

– TIMES/AFP