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Nazi painting stolen in 1945 found after 80 years

By Sohail Khan 16 September 2026, 9:16 pm

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Business News›News›International›Global Trends›Nazi-looted painting ‘Portrait of a Lady,’ stolen in 1945, resurfaces after 80 years in real estate listing; judge orders return to Dutch Jewish heirs

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Nazi-looted painting ‘Portrait of a Lady,’ stolen in 1945, resurfaces after 80 years in real estate listing; judge orders return to Dutch Jewish heirs
Synopsis

The Argentina federal judge in a landmark decision ruled that Giacomo Ceruti’s ‘Portrait of a Lady’ will be restored to its true owners. The painting was stolen from a Jewish-owned art gallery in Amsterdam in 1945 and was missing since 80 years. The observers at the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagbladdiscovered the painting in a real estate listing in the seaside resort town of Mar del Plata.

FILE PHOTO: Argentina officials recover missing painting stolen by Nazis and seen in real estate photo — The whereabouts of Portrait of a Lady, painted by the Italian baroque artist Giacomo Ceruti, had been unknown since the day it was stolen, in 1945

A judge in Argentina has determined that a recently rediscovered 18th-century portrait, that vanished during the darkest days of World War II after being stolen by Nazi officials, must be returned to its rightful Dutch Jewish heirs. The Argentine federal judge signed off on the return of “Portrait of a Lady." The painting is an 18th-century canvas by Italian baroque painter Giacomo Ceruti, known as Il Pitocchetto, and the judge has ordered it must be returned to the heirs of Dutch Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker.

The ruling closes the book on a decades-long saga marked by theft, a cover-up and Argentina’s dubious role in the aftermath of World War II, when the South American nation became a haven for Nazi party members and many of their ill-gotten gains.

“As far as we know, this is the first time that the Argentine justice system has recovered and restituted a painting looted by the Nazis during the Second World War,” Juan Ignacio Pascual, a lawyer representing the painting’s heirs, told the Art Newspaper’s Mercedes Ezquiaga.

How was the Potrait of a Lady brought to light

The whereabouts of Portrait of a Lady, painted by the Italian baroque artist Giacomo Ceruti, had been unknown since the day it was stolen, in 1945. It vanished from a Jewish-owned art gallery in Amsterdam. But last summer, the eagle-eyed observers at the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad discovered the painting in a real estate listing in the seaside resort town of Mar del Plata. It had been photographed in a living room, hung above a green couch, in the home of Patricia Kadgien. She is the daughter of Friedrich Kadgien, a high-ranking Nazi official who oversaw the theft of Jewish-owned artworks in occupied countries.

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“It was very surreal; we didn’t expect it,” Peter Schouten, one of the Algemeen Dagblad journalists who led the investigation, told El Pais’ Javier Lorca last August. “Photo number five [in the listing] showed a painting that has been sought in Holland for 80 years, officially listed as lost or stolen.”

Reuters

FILE PHOTO: Federal Attorney General of Mar del Plata Daniel Adler listens as Assistant Prosecutor Carlos Martinez addresses the media next to curator Ariel Bassano, as a portrait of Contessa Colleoni, attributed to Italian artist Giuseppe Ghislandi, hangs on the wall, after Argentina officials recovered the iconic painting stolen decades ago by the Nazis, after it was spotted in a real estate photo, in Mar del Plata, Argentina September 3, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Scalzo/File Photo

Cell phones, firearms seized during raids

Argentine police raided the villa just days later, according to Associated Press reporters Débora Rey and Isabel Debre. By then, the painting had been removed and its photo had also disappeared from the online listing. Police seized cell phones and unregistered firearms and also found drawings, engravings and documents from the 1940s that could help with the investigation.

FILE – The 18th-century painting "Portrait of a Lady," allegedly stolen by a Nazi officer during World War II, is displayed during a news conference in Mar del Plata, Argentina, on Sept. 3, 2025.

Kadgien and her husband, Juan Carlos Cortegoso, were later charged with concealing the painting. The artwork was eventually recovered. This month, the couple’s criminal case was suspended as part of an agreement. Under the deal, they will return the painting to its rightful heirs and donate about $3,200 to local hospitals. Portrait of a Lady was part of a private collection owned by Jacques Goudstikker. He had more than 1,100 artworks. The Nazis looted the collection after Goudstikker fled the Netherlands following the German invasion in 1940.

The painting is one of hundreds seized from the collection of Goudstikker, who assisted fellow Jews in escaping mainland Europe once the Nazis took control of the Netherlands. Roughly 800 works were snatched up by Hermann Goering, the Luftwaffe commander and one of the Third Reich’s most influential figures, according to the Telegraph.

“I am thrilled with the court’s decision to restitute this important artwork and restore a piece of Jacques Goudstikker’s legacy,” Marei von Saher, Jacques Goudstikker’s daughter-in-law and the painting’s official heir, tells the New York Times’ Claire Moses. “Every artwork returned matters to my family and strengthens our resolve to continue our pursuit of justice.”

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Read More News on
Portrait of a LadyJacques GoudstikkerArgentine justice systemNazi art theftart recoveryJewish art dealerGiacomo CerutiAlgemeen Dagblad

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