An Argentine court has ordered that “‘Portrait of a lady,”’ an 18th-century painting looted by the Nazis in the 1940s that was discovered last year in Mar del Plata, be delivered to the heirs of the original owners.
The painting was originally owned by Jacques Goudstikker, a Jewish art dealer based in Amsterdam who was later looted by Nazis. The artwork was likely last seen in the 1940s at the hands of high-ranking Nazi financier Friedrich Kadgien, who fled Germany and ultimately settled in Argentina.
The artwork was discovered in August 2025 after Dutch journalist Peter Schouten, who was investigating the fate of the painting, spotted it on a real estate agent’s website in Argentina. The house in question belonged to one of Kadgien’s children, Patricia.
The formal restitution was carried out in a hearing in Mar del Plata on Friday. Judicial authorities gathered with attorneys for Marei von Saher, Goudstikker’s daughter-in-law and official heir, and Patricia Kadgien and her husband, Juan Carlos Cortegoso, the couple who had the painting in their house.
Per the terms of the settlement, the couple renounced any claims over the painting, agreeing as well to not file any appeals to reverse the ruling. Kadgien and Cortegoso, who will be on probation for two years, will also have to make a donation of AR$4.8 million (around US$3,140 at the official rate) to a local hospital.
