Court Orders Return of Nazi-Looted Portrait to Rightful Heir

A painting stolen by the Nazis and recovered in Argentina last year must be returned to the rightful owner’s heir, a court has ruled.

The late‑Baroque ‘Portrait of a Lady’ remained missing for eight decades before surfacing in photographs of a house listed for sale near Buenos Aires.

The residence belonged to Patricia Kadgien, daughter of a Nazi fugitive who fled to Argentina after World War II. She has agreed to return the artwork in exchange for immunity from prosecution for concealing it.

‘Portrait of a Lady’ was among more than 1,000 works looted from the collection of Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker following the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands in 1940.

His daughter‑in‑law and sole heir, Marei von Saher, plans to display the painting on a temporary loan at the Holocaust Museum of Buenos Aires to raise awareness of the issue, according to the Argentine newspaper Clarín.

Von Saher has previously stated that her family ‘aims to recover every artwork taken from Jacques’ collection and to restore his legacy.’

The painting was first identified in August 2025 by the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad (AD) on a real‑estate listing for a property in the coastal town of Mar del Plata.

It hung above a green sofa in Patricia Kadgien’s living room. Her father, Friedrich Kadgien, had been a senior aide to Hermann Göring, Adolf Hitler’s deputy, who orchestrated the theft of thousands of artworks across Europe.

Source link