Ghislandi painting looted by Nazis recovered in Argentina

A long lost painting looted decades ago in Nazi occupied Europe has been recovered in Argentina, officials have said.

Portrait of a Lady, by Italian master Giuseppe Ghislandi, had been missing for 80 years before it was spotted last month on an estate agent’s website, where a photo showed it hanging in a house that had belonged to the daughter of a Nazi fugitive.

Patricia Kadgien’s late father Friedrich had been a top adviser to Hermann Goring, Adolf Hitler’s deputy, who plundered thousands of works from across Europe.

Prosecutors said the artwork had now been returned by the lawyer of Ms Kadgien, who was under house arrest after a search of her property initially failed to find the painting.

Ariel Bassano, an art expert who worked on the case, told reporters it was “in good condition for its age, as it dates from 1710”.

He valued it at “around $50,000”, according to the local La Capital Mar del Plata newspaper.

Prosecutors earlier said raids at other properties linked to the family had turned up other pieces that may have been stolen during the war.

Ms Kadgien and her husband had been ordered to remain under house arrest for three days starting Monday, local media reported. They were being questioned for obstructing the investigation to locate the painting, according to a judicial official quoted in local media.

The pair were expected to face a hearing on Thursday, where they would likely be charged with “concealment of theft in the context of genocide”, the official added.

The couple insist they are the rightful owners of the artwork, which they had inherited, according to Argentina’s La Nacion newspaper.

The lawyer for Ms Kadgien, Carlos Murias, told local newspaper La Capital that the pair would co-operate with the authorities.

Four other properties were searched in the hunt for the painting, the prosecutor’s office said.

During these searches, two paintings and a series of drawings and engravings from the 19th Century were found at the home of Ms Kadgien’s sister, La Capital reported, and would be analysed to determine if they were items stolen during the war.

The painting first spotted online, Portrait of a Lady, was among the collection of Amsterdam art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, much of which was forcibly sold by the Nazis after his death. It is listed on a database of art stolen by the Nazis.

Peter Schouten of the Dutch Algemeen Dagblad (AD) newspaper, which broke the initial story about the long-lost artwork’s reappearance, said there was evidence “the painting was removed shortly afterwards or after the media reports about it appeared”.

“There’s now a large rug with horses and some nature scenes hanging there, which police say looks like something else used to hang there.”

Some of the works owned by Goudstikker were recovered in Germany after the war, and put on display in Amsterdam as part of the Dutch national collection.

His sole-surviving heir, daughter-in-law Marei von Saher, said her family “aims to bring back every single artwork robbed from Jacques’ collection, and to restore his legacy”.

According to AD, she took possession of 202 pieces in 2006.