An Argentine court ruled on Friday, September 4, 2026, that a painting looted by Nazi Germany during World War II must be returned to the heir of its original owner. The artwork, an 18th-century piece titled Portrait of a Lady, was located in Argentina last year after being missing for eight decades. The current possessors, Patricia Kadgien and her husband Juan Carlos Cortegoso, agreed to relinquish the work to avoid criminal prosecution.
The painting was part of a collection belonging to Jacques Goudstikker, a Jewish art dealer in the Netherlands, whose gallery was seized following the Nazi invasion in 1940. Hermann Goring, a high-ranking Nazi official, plundered thousands of works, including items from Goudstikker’s inventory. Friedrich Kadgien, the father of Patricia Kadgien, served as a top adviser to Goring and later fled to Argentina after the war.
The artwork was rediscovered in August 2025 when the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad identified it on an estate agent's website advertising a property near Buenos Aires. The painting, also known as Contessa Colleoni, was hanging in a living room in the coastal town of Mar del Plata. Following a search of the property, Kadgien and Cortegoso were charged with concealment in September 2025 and placed under house arrest. While the work is attributed to Giuseppe Ghislandi, some scholars believe it may have been painted by Giacomo Ceruti.
The ruling affects the family of late art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, specifically his sole heir and daughter-in-law, Marei von Saher. While the total value of the painting was not disclosed, more than 1,000 artworks were looted from Goudstikker’s collection during the 1940 invasion. For the current residents of the property where it was found, the court decision results in the loss of the artwork and a donation of 4.8 million pesos (approximately $3,185 or £2,356) to local hospitals.
Criminal proceedings were suspended because the couple agreed to give up all rights to the portrait. Von Saher plans to loan the work to the Holocaust Museum of Buenos Aires to facilitate public education regarding the seizure of Jewish property.
The recovery was triggered by a newspaper identifying the work in a public advertisement for a house sale. The court hearing on September 4, 2026, concluded the domestic legal proceedings against the couple in Mar del Plata. Criminal proceedings were set aside in exchange for the return of the property and the hospital donation.