Court Formalizes Return of Nazi-Looted Painting
The Federal Justice of Mar del Plata closed an unprecedented chapter this Friday by formalizing the restitution of "Portrait of a Lady," an 18th-century artwork that had been missing since World War II, stolen by the Nazis, and discovered last year hanging in the living room of a chalet in the Parque Luro neighborhood. The return was formalized after a hearing at the local federal courts, where the parties agreed to hand over the piece to Marei von Saher, daughter-in-law and sole heir of Jacques Goudstikker, the Jewish art dealer from whom the Nazis plundered over a thousand works in Amsterdam.[S1]
To avoid an oral trial for concealment charges, the current possessors of the painting, Patricia Kadgien, daughter of Nazi leader Friedrich Kadgien, and her husband Juan Carlos Cortegoso, accepted a suspended trial (probation) that includes financial compensation to a public institution in Mar del Plata and the loss of all rights over the work. The hearing, which culminated in a historic reparation, was led by Federal Judge Santiago Inchausti, with the participation of prosecutor Carlos Martínez and General Prosecutor Daniel Adler, the defense of the accused couple, and the legal team representing Marei von Saher's complaint.[S1]
During the proceeding, the Kadgien-Cortegoso couple accepted the explicit and irrevocable waiver of any right, civil or criminal action over the work, directly enabling its restitution to the Goudstikker family, which, upon approval of the agreement, waived any civil and criminal claims against the defendants. As a condition of probation, the Public Prosecutor's Office and the complaint endorsed the suspension of the criminal process against the couple in exchange for the commitment not to appeal the return and to make donations totaling 4.8 million pesos, to be paid in 24 monthly installments to the Cooperadora del Hospital Interzonal Especializado Materno Infantil (HIEMI) of Mar del Plata.[S1]
Discovery and Authentication of the Painting
The case gained worldwide attention in August of last year when freelance journalist Peter Schouten, based in Buenos Aires, was called for an investigation by the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad (AD). Editor Cyril Rosman, who had been tracking the collection of Nazi-looted art for a decade, contacted him directly. Rosman had tried to interview Friedrich Kadgien's daughters several times over those ten years without success. In early August, after the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, he asked Schouten to travel to Mar del Plata to contact the sisters personally.[S1]
Schouten traveled with his partner, producer Guillermo García. They went to the house on Padre Cardiel Street in the Parque Luro neighborhood, where Patricia Kadgien, the eldest daughter of the Nazi "finance wizard," lives, but they were not attended. However, they did not leave empty-handed. They noticed a sale sign placed by a real estate agency at the door and visited its website to see the property listing: in the fifth photo, showing the living room, the painting hanging over a sofa caught their attention. They sent the images to the AD newsroom.[S1]
The dimensions taken from that fifth photo matched those recorded in the Black Catalogue of the Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency (RCE). After the scoop was published, the judicial case was opened immediately in the Mar del Plata courts. Initially, when the Argentine Federal Police (PFA) raided the property, the piece had been removed from the wall and replaced with a tapestry with horse figures. The couple remained under house arrest until their defense formally handed over the work to the Federal Prosecutor's Office.[S1]
Later, expert appraisals by Ángel Miguel Navarro and Alejo Gabriel Lo Russo of the National Academy of Fine Arts confirmed that the painting, initially attributed to artist Giuseppe Ghislandi, was actually painted by the Italian Giacomo Antonio Melchiorre Ceruti, nicknamed "Il Pitocchetto," was authentic and belonged to the Goudstikker collection. They said it was in excellent condition and valued it at an estimated market price of 250,000 euros, not counting the impact of the case.[S1]
Historical Context and Future Exhibition
The history of the work dates back to May 1940, when Nazi German troops invaded the Netherlands. Goudstikker, one of Europe's most influential art dealers, tried to flee with his family on a ship bound for America, but died tragically after falling. The Nazis appropriated his gallery and much of the more than a thousand works in his collection. The painting remained missing for eight decades until its fortuitous discovery in Mar del Plata.[S1][S2]
The heir's intention is for the piece to be exhibited on temporary loan at the Holocaust Museum in Buenos Aires to offer a message of awareness and educational value about the cultural plunder of Nazism. Her lawyers also confirmed after the hearing that there is a possibility that "Portrait of a Lady" may be exhibited at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Nation. "It is Marei's will that the work be exhibited in Argentina to raise awareness about the genocide carried out by Nazism," the lawyers explained.[S1]
