A couple in possession of a painting looted from a Jewish art dealer must return the work to the heir of its rightful owner, an Argentine court has ruled.
The work, Portrait of a Lady, by 18th-century Italian master Giuseppe Ghislandi was lost for nearly 80 years before being discovered last year near Buenos Aires.
As the JC previously reported, the painting was located after keen-eyed members of the public spotted it in photos included in a listing for a local property on an estate agent’s website.
The house belonged to Patricia Kadgien, whose father, Friedrich, was the head of the Luftwaffe and the right-hand man of Hermann Goering, the supreme commander of the Nazi air force.
Before fleeing Europe at the end of the war, he had amassed a sizeable collection of stolen artwork, including Portrait of a Lady, which was looted from Dutch Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker in 1940.
Over 1,000 works were stolen from Goudstikker after the Nazis seized control of the Netherlands that year.
He died in 1940 when he fell through a hole in a boat that he had taken to flee the Netherlands. Found on his body was a small black book that listed his collection, which was later used as a guideline to track down the stolen items.
Following its discovery, Marei von Saher, Goudstikker’s daughter-in-law and only surviving heir, applied to have it returned to her.
And during a court hearing last week, Patricia Kadgien agreed to give the painting to Saher in exchange for immunity from prosecution over allegations that she concealed it from authorities, per BBC News.
Kadgien and her husband will relinquish all rights to the work and donate 4.8 million pesos (£2,356) to local hospitals.
Saher has reportedly said that she intends to loan out the painting to be exhibited at the Holocaust Museum of Buenos Aires.
“My search for the artworks owned by my father-in-law Jacques Goudstikker started at the end of the 90s, and I won’t give up,” she told AD. “My family aims to bring back every single artwork robbed from Jacques’ collection and restore his legacy.”
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