Priceless Painting Stolen by Nazis Discovered in Background of Real Estate Photo
A painting stolen by the Nazis during World War II has been spotted in the background of a real estate photo, more than 80 years after it was seized by them.
The 18th century painting Portrait of a Lady (Contessa Colleoni) by Italian artist Giuseppe Ghislandi by Italian painter Giuseppe Ghislandi was taken by the Nazis from Dutch-Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker in 1940. The Old Master painting was never recovered, even as other missing pieces from Goudstikker’s collection were later traced and returned to his heir.
However, the stolen painting has now reportedly been discovered in a photo for a real estate listing for a property in Buenos Aires, Argentina — with the artwork hanging above a sofa in the living room of the coastal home.
The discovery is the result of nearly ten years of work by Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad (AD) investigative journalists Cyril Rosman, Paul Post and Peter Schouten.
Portrait of a Lady was among 1,100 pieces taken from Goudstikker after the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands. It appears in a database of missing art and is officially recorded by the Dutch culture ministry as “unreturned” since the Second World War.
AD reporters had long connected the painting to Friedrich Kadgien, a former SS officer who fled to Switzerland in 1945 before settling in Argentina with his family. For years, the newspaper tried unsuccessfully to reach his daughters, who still owned his home, until a reporter found the property listed for sale.
When AD journalist Cyril Rosman searched the online listing on the Robles Casas & Campos agency website, he found a photo showing the lost painting in the living room.
“As I opened the link the next morning, I started scrolling through the interior photos of the property. Was there anything that said more about Kadgien’s past? Then I saw it. That painting, above the sofa — photo five.” Rosman writes.
Marei von Saher, the 81-year-old daughter-in-law of Goudstikker and his sole heir, has been searching for his stolen works since the 1990s. She said through her lawyer that she plans to reclaim the painting. Goudstikker, a leading Dutch art dealer, had fled the country in May 1940 but died during the journey after falling in the hold of the ship carrying him to safety.
“It is my family’s goal to find every work of art stolen from the Goudstikker collection, and to restore Jacques’ legacy,” von Saher says.
When contacted by AD, one of Kadgien’s daughters denied owning the stolen painting: “I don’t know what information you want from me and I don’t know what painting you’re talking about either.”
The discovery comes months after a sharp-eyed historian uncovered a long-lost portrait of King Henry VII in the background of a photo posted on social media.
