An Argentine judge has ordered the return of a painting looted by the Nazis during World War II to the heirs of its original owner, a Dutch Jewish art collector. The decision came more than 80 years after the artwork, titled “Portrait of a Lady,” was taken from Jacques Goudstikker, a prominent Dutch art dealer, as his collection was seized by the Nazis in 1940.
The painting resurfaced in August 2025 when journalists from a Dutch newspaper discovered it hanging in the home of Patricia Kadgien in Mar del Plata, Argentina. Kadgien is the daughter of Friedrich Kadgien, a former financial adviser to Adolf Hitler who acquired the artwork after it was forcibly sold by Goudstikker. Local prosecutors subsequently searched the Kadgien residence but found the painting had been removed. Authorities charged Patricia Kadgien and her husband, Juan Carlos Cortegoso, with aggravated cover-up for hiding the piece.
On Friday, Judge Santiago Inchausti ruled that the painting must be returned to the sole heir of Goudstikker, Marei von Saher, while suspending the criminal case against the couple. The judge placed them on probation for two years and ordered a monetary donation to a public institution in Mar del Plata, according to Herbie Robinson, the Argentine lawyer representing the heir.
The painting had initially been attributed to Giuseppe Ghislandi, an 18th-century Italian artist, but art experts now believe it was more likely created by Giacomo Ceruti, another Italian painter from the same period. It is among the roughly 1,400 pieces cataloged in Goudstikker’s small black notebook, which he carried when fleeing the Nazi-occupied Netherlands in 1940. Goudstikker died during the escape, but his widow preserved the notebook, which has been crucial evidence in ongoing restitution efforts.
Since its discovery, the painting has been held by the Supreme Court of Buenos Aires. Marei von Saher is expected to receive the artwork in the upcoming weeks or months. In a statement, she expressed relief and determination, saying the return of each piece strengthens her family’s pursuit of justice and helps restore the legacy of Jacques Goudstikker.