Argentine Court Orders Return Of Nazi-Looted Painting

(MENAFN- USA Art News) An Argentine federal judge has approved the restitution of an 18th-century painting,“Portrait of a Lady,” to Marei von Saher, the heir of Dutch Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker. The artwork, previously attributed to Giuseppe Ghislandi and now to Giacomo Antonio Melchiorre Ceruti, was recovered from private individuals through criminal proceedings, a move described by von Saher's lawyers as“virtually unprecedented.” The painting is valued at approximately €250,000.

The work was discovered last year in photographs from a real estate listing in Argentina. For decades, it had remained with the family of Friedrich Kadgien, a Nazi regime official who fled Europe after World War II and settled in Mar del Plata. On September 4, Federal Judge Santiago Inchausti approved an agreement to suspend criminal proceedings against Friedrich Kadgien's daughter, Patricia Kadgien, and her husband, Juan Carlos Cortegoso. The couple had faced charges of aggravated concealment but avoided trial by agreeing to several conditions, including the irrevocable relinquishment of any claim to the painting.

Juan Ignacio Pascual, one of the Argentine lawyers representing Von Saher and the Goudstikker family, told The Art Newspaper that this marks the first instance of the Argentine justice system recovering and restituting a Nazi-looted painting through criminal proceedings. He collaborated on the case with Argentine lawyers Herberto Robinson and Guillermo Brady. Pascual emphasized the exceptional nature of the restitution, stating,“We are not aware of any comparable case involving a Nazi-looted work found in private hands whose restitution to its rightful heirs was ordered as part of criminal proceedings. In that sense, we consider this a virtually unprecedented case.”

Goudstikker fled the Netherlands in 1940 following the German invasion and died during his escape. His gallery, which contained over 1,100 works, was looted by the Nazis. His heirs have spent decades seeking the return of the collection, securing the restitution of 202 works from the Dutch government in 2006.

Von Saher, who resides in the U.S. and is the widow of Goudstikker's only son, expressed her satisfaction with the ruling.“I am thrilled with the court's decision to restitute this important artwork,” Von Saher said in a statement provided to The Art Newspaper through Yaél M. Weitz, counsel at the New York law firm Freedman Normand Friedland.“More than 80 years ago, this painting was stolen by the Nazis, first by [Hermann] Göring, then by Kadgien, whose descendants held it for decades afterward. It is time for this chapter to close, and for the painting to be returned to my family, and to restore a piece of Jacques Goudstikker's legacy.”

Von Saher hopes the painting can be publicly exhibited in Argentina temporarily before its return to her family. Weitz is reportedly in discussions with museums in Argentina, and Pascual confirmed that several venues are being considered. The Holocaust Museum of Buenos Aires had previously been mentioned as a potential venue. A representative for the museum indicated that they have not received new information from the Goudstikker heirs and will await the family's decision regarding the painting's destination due to the sensitivity of the case.

We previously reported:

An Argentine judge has ordered the return of an 18th-century Nazi-looted painting found in a real estate ad to the original Jewish owner's heirs.

A Rembrandt self-portrait illegally removed from Gotha, Germany, in 1946 will return on loan for an exhibition, marking its first display there in 80 years.

Source: The Art Newspaper

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