(Credits: Robles Casas & Campos)
A painting originally stolen by Nazis reappeared after over eight decades, in the image of a property being sold by the daughter of a senior Nazi. After a house raid, the painting has vanished again.
The painting in question is ‘Portrait of a Lady’ by late-baroque Italian portraitist Giuseppe Ghislandi. ‘Portrait of a Lady’ belonged originally to the collection of Amsterdam art dealer Jacques Goudstikker. Much of this collection was forcibly sold by the Nazis after his death.
It was recently spotted in an Argentinian estate agent’s advert, hanging over a sofa. However, a subsequent police raid turned up to discover no painting at all. Federal prosecutor Carlos Martínez told local media that they were treating the case as an alleged cover-up of smuggling.
The newspaper that first reported the artwork’s reappearance agreed with this narrative. Peter Schouten of the Dutch Algemeen Dagblad newspaper alleged that media reports about the painting led the household to remove it.
He added, “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.”
When the paper trail suggested the important painting might be in the possession of SS officer and senior financial aide to Hermann Göring, Friedrich Kadgien, the newspaper attempted to reach out to Kadgien’s daughters. Kadgien died in 1979, but they made no headway with his offspring.
In a stroke of luck, when the daughters put their house up for sale, a beady eye spotted the missing painting in one of the photographs of the property. Another looted artwork is also thought to be in their possession and was spotted on social media.
Lawyers for Goudstikker are adamant that they will reclaim what is rightfully his. His only surviving heir, daughter-in-law Marei Von Saher, echoed this sentiment, insisting that her family “aims to bring back every single artwork robbed from Jacques’ collection, and to restore his legacy,” as per the BBC.
The sisters have not been forthcoming with information. One of the pair told the Dutch paper she didn’t which painting they “are talking about”.
Related Topics
