For nearly 80 years, Giuseppe Ghislandi’s Portrait of a Lady seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth.
Looted by the Nazis during World War II, the 18th-century masterpiece had slipped into the shadows of history - until it unexpectedly resurfaced last month in the most unlikely of places: an online real estate ad in Argentina.
The first-ever colour image of the painting appeared in the listing, uploaded unwittingly by one of the daughters of Friedrich Kadgien, a fugitive Nazi officer who stole the work from Dutch-Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker in the occupied Netherlands.
Dutch journalists investigating Kadgien’s life in Argentina stumbled upon the painting. The revelation sparked an international scramble. Within hours of Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad publishing the story, the real estate post vanished.
Police raided the coastal Mar del Plata home of Patricia Kadgien, but the painting was nowhere to be found. Authorities detained Kadgien and her husband on charges of concealment and obstruction of justice as raids were carried out across the city, seizing other artworks suspected to have been plundered.
Then, on Wednesday, after decades of mystery, the breakthrough finally came. At a press conference in Mar del Plata’s federal court, officials revealed that the Kadgien family had handed over the long-lost canvas.
Art expert Ariel Bassano, who assisted with the investigation, told reporters from the courtroom that the painting was in good condition and dates back to 1710.
For Goudstikker’s heirs, who have fought tirelessly to reclaim the hundreds of works stripped from his collection during the war, the recovery is both vindication and a poignant reminder of what was lost.
