Argentina probes artwork allegedly looted by Nazi fugitive that surfaced
in real estate ad
[August 27, 2025]
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentine police raided a villa in a
quiet seaside resort on Tuesday as part of a hunt for a 17th-century
Italian portrait believed to have been looted 80 years ago from a Jewish
collector by a fugitive Nazi officer who settled in Argentina after
World War II.
The probe reopens a shadowy chapter in the history of this South
American nation, which sheltered scores of Nazis who fled Europe to
avoid prosecution for war crimes after World War II, including
high-ranking party members and notorious architects of the Holocaust
like Adolf Eichmann.
Under the government of Argentine General Juan Perón, whose first tenure
lasted from 1946 until his overthrow in 1955, fugitive German fascists
brought plundered Jewish property with them from the other side of the
world, including gold, bank deposits, paintings, sculptures and
furnishings.
The fate of those items continues to make news decades later as the
painful process of restitution drags along in Argentina and beyond.
Dutch reporters spot the allegedly looted masterpiece in a
real-estate ad
In this case, the lost painting that Argentine authorities are after is
“Portrait of a Lady,” a painting by Italian Baroque artist Giuseppe
Vittore Ghislandi.
Reporters for the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad first spotted what
appeared to be the famous painting on Monday in a real estate ad for a
home believed to be owned by the descendants of Nazi fugitive Friedrich
Kadgien while searching for stolen artwork from the Netherlands.
Citing Dutch art experts, the Rotterdam-based paper reported that the
original “Portrait of a Lady” appeared to be hanging above a green
velvet sofa in the living room of a rustic brick chalet for sale in
Argentina’s coastal town of Mar del Plata.
The real estate agency, Robles Casas & Campos, did not respond to a
request for comment. The house listing was still live late Tuesday, but
the image of the portrait, first seen in a 3D tour of the home’s
interior, appears to have been removed.
The following day, Argentine authorities raided the house.
Federal prosecutor Carlos Martínez told The Associated Press that the
painting was not found in the house, but officers seized “other items
that could be useful for the investigation, such as weapons, some
engravings, prints and period reproductions.”
He said investigators are examining possible charges of concealment and
smuggling.
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‘Portrait of a Lady’ was taken from a Jewish art dealer in occupied
Amsterdam
The official Dutch database of missing WWII art, maintained by the
Netherlands’ Cultural Heritage Agency, identifies the oil-on-canvas
“Portrait of a Lady” as belonging to Dutch Jewish art dealer Jacques
Goudstikker before the Nazi takeover of his prominent Amsterdam gallery
as Germany invaded the Netherlands in May 1940.
Through outright looting or coercive sales, agents acting on behalf of
the Nazis made off with countless artworks from private Dutch-Jewish
dealers. Goudstikker's inventory was sold illegally to Hermann Goering,
known as Adolf Hitler’s right-hand man.
Goudstikker’s sole surviving heir, Marei von Saher, has long pursued
restitution for her father-in-law’s stolen works. In a landmark 2006
case, the Dutch government agreed to return 202 looted paintings from
Goudstikker’s collection to von Saher after a protracted legal battle.
Von Saher did not immediately respond to a request for comment through
her lawyers.
Historical sources link the portrait to a Nazi fugitive
The Dutch archive lists “Portrait of a Lady" as having passed into the
hands of a man named Kadgien from Berlin.
A search of the German Federal Archives records the existence of a only
one Nazi party member with that surname: Friedrich Gustav Kadgien,
membership No. 1,354,543, who oversaw foreign currency, precious metals
and the sale of confiscated property as a financial aide to Goering.
Following the German defeat, Kadgien fled to Switzerland, then
Argentina, according to a declassified report from the Central
Intelligence Agency. Members of the Kadgien family and their business
dealings show up repeatedly in Argentine judicial and property
registries beginning in the 1950s.
Kadgien was never charged with crimes related to the Nazi regime during
decades in Argentina.
He died in 1978 in Buenos Aires, according to local media reports.
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