Argentina charges Nazi’s daughter for concealing decades-old art theft

The looted painting, Portrait of a Lady, by Giuseppe Ghislandi, was seen in an Argentinian real estate advert. Photo / Robles Casas & Campos

The daughter and son-in-law of a Nazi who stole art from European Jews during World War II have been charged in an Argentine court with hiding numerous works, including 22 by French painter Henri Matisse.

The pair came into the spotlight after an 18th-century painting stolen from a Dutch art collector was spotted in an Argentine property ad last month, only to vanish once again.

Portrait of a Lady by Italian baroque painter Giuseppe Ghislandi was missing for eight decades before being photographed in the home of a daughter of Nazi Friedrich Kadgien, who had fled to Argentina after the war and died there in 1978.

Police opened an investigation and conducted multiple raids in search of the painting, only to find 22 works from the 1940s by Matisse (1869-1954), and others whose origins have yet to be determined.

The artworks were found in the Argentine seaside resort of Mar del Plata in possession of members of the Kadgien family, officials said.

Daughter Patricia Kadgien, 58, and her 60-year-old husband ultimately handed over the Ghislandi work, and later appeared in court, where they were charged with “concealment,” according to prosecutors.

Portrait of a Lady was part of the extensive collection of Jacques Goudstikker, who died while fleeing the Netherlands in 1940 when it was invaded by Nazi Germany.

It is thought to be worth about US$50,000 ($85,616.50) today, according to Argentine media reports.

Top German officials, led by Gestapo founder Hermann Goering, divvied up Goudstikker’s collection and Kadgien – a financial adviser to Adolf Hitler – was placed in charge of moving the plunder to South America.

After the war, the Dutch state retrieved some 300 works from the collection, most of which were returned to Goudstikker’s heirs, though many remain scattered around the globe.

Thousands of Nazis fled across the Atlantic after WWII, and many found refuge in Chile and Argentina.

- Agence France-Presse