Property is linked to the family of Friedrich Kadgien, known in his day as the SS ‘Wizard of Finance’; Screen was not found by Interpol searches with the Argentine Federal Police
An old painting, allegedly stolen during the Nazi regime, was detected in photos published by a real estate, and now the court tries to locate the missing work for over eight decades. The picture was identified by the Dutch newspaper AD through a photograph taken in a house for sale in Mar del Plata, a coastal city 400 km south of. The work, whose authenticity cannot be proven until recovered, would be “portrait of a lady” by Italian Giuseppe Ghislandi (1655-1743), which belonged to Dutch Jewish collector Jacques Goudstikker.
The property is linked to the family of Friedrich Kadgien, known in its time as the “wizard of finances” of the SS, the paramilitary force of the Nazi regime during World War II. The photo of the living room, published in the sale of the house by real estate Robles Casas & Campos, showed what seems to be the stolen painting hanging above a green sofa. Following the publication of the discovery by the Dutch newspaper AD on Monday (25), federal prosecutor Carlos Martínez ordered a search at the residence on Tuesday, but Ghislandi’s screen was no longer there.
“The painting is not there, only a carbine and a 32 -caliber revolver were seized,” the prosecutor told the press at the scene. The sale announcement was removed from the page and the real estate did not respond to AFP consultations. Participate in the search for the work A Interpol and the Argentine Federal Police. It is believed to have been removed after the disclosure of the photos. “Unfortunately, the procedures performed yesterday did not have a positive result, for now the investigation is still underway,” AFP told AFP a source linked to the case that asked not to be identified.
Patricia Kadgien, a heiress of the property, was not formally accused, although her lawyer Carlos Murias informed the local newspaper La Capital de Mar del Plata that she and her husband plan to make themselves available to the courts. On the other hand, the heirs of the Dutch collector are determined to recover the painting, which is on an international list of missing art works.
“My search for my father -in -law’s art works, Jacques Goudstikker, began in the late 1990s and did not abandon her to this day,” 81 -year -old Nora Marea Von Saher told the AD newspaper. The Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, dedicated to the identification, tracking and restitution of cultural goods stolen by the Nazis, shows the picture as missing on its website. Apparently, this is the same as it appeared on the real estate website.
*With information from AFP
Posted by Fernando Dias
