A Rare Nazi-Looted Painting, Lost for Some 80 Years, Turned Up in a Real-Estate Listing. Now, a Judge Has Ordered It Returned to Its Rightful Heirs

In a historic order, a judge in Argentina has determined that a recently rediscovered 18th-century portrait, missing for some 80 years after being stolen by Nazi officials, must be returned to its rightful Dutch Jewish heirs. The ruling closes the book on a decades-long saga marked by theft, a coverup and Argentina’s dubious role in the aftermath of World War II, when the South American nation became a haven for Nazi party members and many of their ill-gotten gains. The whereabouts of Portrait of a Lady, painted by the Italian baroque artist Giacomo Ceruti, had been unknown since the day it was stolen, in 1945, from a Jewish-owned art gallery in Amsterdam.

But last summer brought an unexpected revelation: Hawk-eyed observers at the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad (AD) discovered the painting in a real-estate listing in the seaside resort town of Mar del Plata. It had been photographed in a living room, hung above a green couch, in the home of Patricia Kadgien, the daughter of Friedrich Kadgien, a high-ranking Nazi official who oversaw the theft of Jewish-owned artworks in occupied countries. Portrait of a Lady was initially thought to have been painted by the Italian artist Giuseppe Ghislandi.

A court-ordered examination, however, has since found that the artwork is more likely by Ceruti. They seized cell phones and unregistered firearms, as well as drawings, engravings and documents from the 1940s that might advance the investigation, according to the outlet. Kadgien and her husband, Juan Carlos Cortegoso, were eventually charged with concealment, and the painting was recovered.

In court this month, the pair’s criminal case was suspended as part of a deal to return the artwork to its rightful heirs and donate roughly $3,200 to local hospitals. Portrait of a Lady was one of more than 1,100 works in the private collection of Jacques Goudstikker, which was plundered by the Nazis when he fled the Netherlands after 1940’s German invasion. More than 200 pieces have been found and returned to Goudstikker’s family, but hundreds more are presumed to be distributed around the world.

The restitution of artwork stolen during the Second World War remains a pressing global effort. This summer, researchers at Santa Clara University released an A.I. chatbot that aims to navigate stolen-art databases around the world, aiding in the artworks’ identification and repatriation. Meanwhile, a newly opened, permanent exhibition at the Musée d’Orsay will put 225 pieces of looted art on a rotating display in an effort to pair paintings with their rightful owners.

His work, which often centers on freshwater issues, climate change and subsistence, has appeared in Circle of Blue, Sierra magazine, Discover magazine and Alaska Sporting Journal.