Lost Nazi-looted painting recovered in Argentina

Argentine police have recovered a long-lost 18th-century painting looted by the Nazis during World War II, decades after it was stolen from Dutch Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker.

The baroque portrait, Portrait of a Lady by Italian painter Giuseppe Ghislandi, had been missing for nearly 80 years until it resurfaced in photos from a real estate listing in Mar del Plata, Argentina, hanging above a sofa in the home of Patricia Kadgien, the daughter of SS officer Friedrich Kadgien who fled to Argentina after the war.

Experts valued the painting at around $50,000 and confirmed its remarkable condition for a 1710 artwork.

After briefly disappearing again before a police raid, the piece was returned through Kadgien’s lawyer, while both she and her husband were placed under house arrest.

The recovery marks a rare but significant victory in the ongoing global effort to track down and reclaim thousands of artworks stolen by the Nazis, many of which remain missing or hidden in private collections.