Argentine couple to return Nazi-looted painting to rightful owner

What the report says

A court in Mar del Plata, Argentina, has ruled that a Nazi-looted painting recovered last year must be returned to the heir of its original owner. The work, a late-baroque portrait known as Portrait of a Lady, had been missing for about 80 years before it was identified in an estate-agent photo of a house near Buenos Aires. BBC World News reports that the house belonged to Patricia Kadgien, the daughter of a Nazi fugitive who settled in Argentina after the Second World War.

According to the report, Kadgien and her husband were earlier charged with concealment after police searches did not immediately locate the artwork. On Friday, however, prosecutors suspended the criminal case as part of an agreement under which the couple will surrender all rights to the painting and make a payment of 4.8 million pesos to local hospitals. The arrangement also appears to resolve the immediate legal dispute over possession of the piece.

The painting was originally looted from the collection of Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker after the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands in 1940. His daughter-in-law and sole heir, Marei von Saher, is seeking its return and has said the family wants to recover works taken from the collection and restore Goudstikker’s legacy. She has also said the painting may be placed on temporary loan at the Holocaust Museum of Buenos Aires to help raise awareness. BBC World News notes that there are still some questions among experts about the work’s attribution, although the recovery itself underscores the ongoing efforts to trace and return Nazi-looted art.