The daughter of a deceased Nazi fugitive in Argentina is under house arrest after a search of her property failed to locate a long-missing painting believed to have been stolen during World War II.
Prosecutors assert that the looted artwork was not found on the premises; however, subsequent raids on other properties connected to the family have yielded additional pieces that may have been plundered during the war.
“Portrait of a Lady,” a work by Italian master Giuseppe Ghislandi, had been lost for eight decades before it was identified last month on a real estate agency’s website. A photograph depicted it hanging in a residence formerly owned by Patricia Kadgien’s late father, Friedrich Kadgien.
Kadgien senior was a prominent advisor to Hermann Goring, who oversaw the systematic looting of thousands of artworks throughout Europe.
Patricia Kadgien and her husband were placed under house arrest for three days beginning Monday, according to local reports. They are expected to be questioned regarding potential obstruction of the investigation to recover the painting, as stated by a judicial official cited in local media.
The couple is scheduled to appear at a hearing on Thursday, where they are likely to be charged with “concealment of theft in the context of genocide,” the official added.
The couple maintains their claim as the rightful owners of the artwork, asserting that they inherited it, as reported by Argentina’s La Nacion newspaper.
Carlos Murias, the attorney representing Kadgien’s daughter, assured La Capital, a local newspaper, that his clients would cooperate with authorities. Nevertheless, prosecutors stated on Tuesday that the artwork had not been surrendered.
The prosecutor’s office indicated that four additional properties were searched in the effort to locate the painting.
During these searches, two paintings and a collection of 19th-century drawings and engravings were discovered at the residence of Ms. Kadgien’s sister, La Capital reported. These items will undergo analysis to determine if they were stolen during the war.
The painting initially identified online, “Portrait of a Lady,” was part of the collection of Amsterdam art dealer Jacques Goudstikker. Much of Goudstikker’s collection was forcibly sold by the Nazis after his death. It is currently listed on a database dedicated to art stolen by the Nazis.
Peter Schouten, from the Dutch Algemeen Dagblad (AD) newspaper, which initially reported on the artwork’s reappearance, suggested that evidence indicates “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.”
Following the photo’s emergence, one of the sisters conveyed to the Dutch newspaper that she was unaware of what authorities sought from her, or which painting they “are talking about.”
Lawyers representing Goudstikker’s estate have stated their intention to exert every effort to reclaim the painting.
Some of the works previously owned by Goudstikker were recovered in Germany after the war and subsequently displayed in Amsterdam as part of the Dutch national collection.
Marei von Saher, his sole surviving heir and daughter-in-law, affirmed that her family “aims to bring back every single artwork robbed from Jacques’ collection, and to restore his legacy.”
According to AD, she regained possession of 202 pieces in 2006.
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