In a case that has captivated both the art world and those invested in the ongoing reckoning with the crimes of the Nazi era, Argentine prosecutors have charged Patricia Kadgien, the daughter of a fugitive Nazi official, and her husband Juan Carlos Cortegoso with attempting to conceal an 18th-century masterpiece, Portrait of a Lady, stolen from a Jewish art dealer during World War II. The painting, by Italian artist Giuseppe Ghislandi, had vanished for more than eighty years before its sudden reappearance set off an international legal and moral drama.
The story began to unravel in late August 2025, when Dutch journalists, long on the trail of Nazi-looted art, spotted a familiar image while browsing real estate listings. There, in a 3D tour of a Mar del Plata home in Argentina, Portrait of a Lady hung above a green velvet couch—its presence unmistakable to those who had pored over international archives of missing art. The listing, posted in February, was swiftly removed after the discovery, but not before the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad published an exposé on August 25 that made international headlines, according to the Associated Press.
As reported by ABC and AP, the painting had been stolen from Jacques Goudstikker, a prominent Dutch-Jewish art dealer, as Nazi forces advanced through the Netherlands. Goudstikker, who died in a shipwreck in 1940 while fleeing the Nazis, was forced to sell his world-famous collection—including Rembrandts and Vermeers—under duress and for a fraction of their value. At least 1,100 works from his gallery remain missing to this day.
After the painting’s rediscovery, Interpol alerted Argentine authorities, who swiftly organized a series of raids. On September 2, police carried out four simultaneous operations in Mar del Plata, targeting the homes of Patricia Kadgien and her relatives. According to AP, investigators seized two paintings believed to date from the 1800s, along with several drawings and engravings that are now being analyzed for possible links to other works stolen during World War II. They also found a rifle and a .32-caliber revolver.
But Portrait of a Lady was nowhere to be found. Officers discovered a horse tapestry hanging in the spot where the painting had appeared in the real estate photos, as well as marks on the wall and a lone hook—silent witnesses to the artwork’s recent presence. Security footage, prosecutors later revealed, showed people removing the property’s "for sale" sign as media scrutiny intensified.
Federal prosecutor Carlos Martínez, who has spearheaded the investigation, described the attempted concealment of the painting as a crime intimately bound up with the horrors of the Holocaust. “The cover-up charge here must be understood as related to the crime of genocide,” Martínez told the court, according to reporting by multiple outlets. “Theft in the context of genocide. It is linked to the most serious crimes known to humanity.”
On September 1, following the raids and the mounting pressure, Patricia Kadgien and Juan Carlos Cortegoso were placed under house arrest for 72 hours. During this period, their lawyer attempted to transfer the judicial investigation to civil courts and even petitioned for permission to auction the painting. The court, however, rejected the request, citing the painting’s provenance and the gravity of the case.
It was only on September 3, after these legal maneuvers failed, that Kadgien finally turned over Portrait of a Lady to authorities. She appeared in court the next day, described by AP as looking concerned and puzzled, with disheveled hair and sunglasses perched atop her head. Her husband, Cortegoso, sat beside her, arms crossed and face stern, as Prosecutor Martínez detailed the evidence and the couple’s efforts to hide the artwork after its sudden reappearance.
Martínez emphasized that Kadgien and her husband were "aware that the artwork was being sought by the criminal justice system and international authorities" but nonetheless went to great lengths to hide it. "It was only after several police raids that they turned it in," he said, as reported by AP. The couple was released from house arrest after the hearing but is barred from leaving Argentina or their home for more than 24 hours without prior approval during the 180-day investigation period. They must also notify the court each time they leave their registered address.
The fate of Portrait of a Lady now hangs in the balance. Federal prosecutor Martínez has requested that the painting be displayed at the Holocaust Museum in Buenos Aires while the investigation continues and before any potential transfer abroad. The museum has yet to comment on the proposal. Meanwhile, the legal battle for the painting’s rightful ownership is heating up: the heir of Jacques Goudstikker, Marei von Saher, has lodged a claim for the artwork at the FBI’s New York office, according to information provided to Martínez by the bureau. The FBI, for its part, has declined to comment.
The Kadgien family’s connection to the painting—and to the broader dark legacy of Nazi art theft—runs deep. Patricia Kadgien is the daughter of Friedrich Kadgien, a Nazi lawyer and businessman who fled Germany after the collapse of the Third Reich and ultimately settled in Argentina. The painting’s last documented appearance before its rediscovery was in Switzerland in 1946, already in the hands of the Kadgien family, as detailed by AP and ABC.
For decades, journalists and art historians have tried to trace the fate of Goudstikker’s collection, with only sporadic success. The sudden appearance of Portrait of a Lady in a Mar del Plata real estate listing felt almost surreal—a testament to how the ghosts of the past can re-emerge in the most unexpected ways. Prosecutors and investigators now hope that the case will not only bring justice for this single painting, but also shed light on other lost works and the families still seeking restitution.
As the investigation continues, authorities remain cautious. The seized 19th-century paintings and other artworks will be painstakingly analyzed to determine if they, too, were stolen in the chaos of World War II. For now, Portrait of a Lady stands as a symbol of both loss and the enduring quest for justice—a painting whose journey from Amsterdam to Argentina tells a story that is far from over.
