After 80 years of being lost, Giuseppe Ghislandi’s Portrait of a Lady has finally been recovered. After it briefly appeared in an online real estate listing last month, the family that was in possession of the painting turned it in to the Argentinian authorities.
The painting, a portrait of Contessa Colleoni, was one of more than 1,000 that were looted by Nazis from the collection of Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker during World War II, and was last seen in 1940, according to the Lost Art Database. It traded hands among the Nazi ranks, first acquired via forced sale by Nazi Germany’s Supreme Commander of the Air Force, Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, before it was believed to have landed in the hands of SS officer Friedrich Kadgien. According to Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad (AD), Kadgien fled Germany for Switzerland in 1945, then moved to Brazil and eventually landed in Argentina, where he passed in 1978.
It was in Kadgien’s old home where the painting finally appeared, popping up in an online reality listing when the home was listed for sale by one of Kadgien’s daughters. When the Argentinian realty company Robles Casas & Campos put up photos of the home, journalists identified the painting hanging on the wall. Once that was brought to the public’s attention, the listing was taken down. When authorities showed up at the home, they found the painting had been replaced with a tapestry, according to Argentinian newspaper La Nación.
But the family apparently decided to hand the piece over. “The family’s lawyer brought it; he showed up at the prosecutor’s office and said he wanted to hand over the painting we were looking for, and nothing else,” Carlos Martínez, a federal prosecutor, told the New York Times. That hopefully means it is finally on its way back home. Per the Times, the family of Goudstikker, the art dealer who was forcibly made to give up the painting, has made a claim for the artwork and wants it returned.
As for the Kadgien kids, it appears they aren’t out of the woods yet. The New York Times reports that they were set to attend a court hearing on Thursday, where they could potentially still face charges for concealing the work. It’s also possible the family is still in possession of other stolen works. The Times found that at least two other paintings were recovered from another home belonging to one of Kadgien’s daughters.