Mar del Plata: Nearly three months after it fell into the hands of justice, the painting was seized lady portrait, It was reported stolen by Nazi forces from a Dutch collector and recovered in this city. The expert opinion process begins By specialists in fine arts.
The work has been entrusted to the country’s respected painting leaders, whose names have not been revealed, and will allow researchers to confirm whether the piece is the original work claimed by the heirs. Jack Goodstickera gallery owner who, in the midst of World War II, reportedly had hundreds of paintings stolen by the army, which at the time was in the service of Adolf Hitler.
This work about a woman who would become an Italian countess was discovered in a private house in the Parque Loro neighborhood of Mar del Plata. A journalist from the Netherlands arrived at that address with the intention of speaking with the landlady, the daughter of Friedrich Kadgen, a former high-ranking official in the German government structure in the 1940s.
Although he was unable to convince the woman of his presence, as there was a notice for the sale of the property, he entered the site that he showed out of curiosity and there he saw pictures of the interior where Portrait of a lady I decorated one of the living room walls.
The case went beyond the journalistic aspect, and led to the intervention of the federal justice system and, as a preliminary measure, the search of those properties owned by Patricia Cadgin, Friedrich’s daughter. When the police entered, the work on the wall that had been visible a few days ago was no longer there, and in its place was a carpet.
Public Prosecutor Carlos Martinez, in charge of the case, ordered the arrest of the woman and her husband, Carlos Ortegoso. The procedure was carried out in her home, and one of its most important effects was the delivery of the painting to the Public Prosecution headquarters, which was determined by the defendant’s lawyer on September 3. The painting arrived wrapped in a blanket and was made available for investigation, although he confirmed that his client owned it legally and by inheritance.
Not only was this painting in the file, attributed to the Italian Giuseppe Ghislandi and dating back to the end of the nineteenth century, missing. Also engravings and other artworks were found during raids on Kadgin’s home and also at the home of his sister Alicia, although the only significant piece associated with the theft by the Nazi army is Portrait of a lady.
The accused couple, at a hearing before Security Judge Santiago Inchausti, were able to continue the process freely but with a ban on leaving the country and an obligation to notify the court of their respective departures from the city. This is what he did with his trips to Bariloche to visit one of his sons.
The Attorney General had proposed keeping the work in the Holocaust Museum in the federal capital. Inchausti finally decided to have it moved and preserved in the Museum of the Nation’s Supreme Court.
“She is in very good condition”
In that space, where the conditions for the preservation and integrity of the painting are met, the expert reports requested by Martinez for the purposes of Determine whether the work is truly original and matches what was reported by Goudstikker’s heirs.
There are two experts provided by the National Academy of Fine Artsintended for this job, which includes learning about the characteristics and conditions of the work, which is approximately one and a half meters high and one meter wide. The state of preservation was very good.According to those who know more about the subject and have been able to come into contact with the piece, it dates back to the 18th century.
The person who claims it is Marai von Saher, Godsticker’s daughter-in-law and the first link in the chain of eventual heirs to this gallery owner who, despite theft by the Nazi government, managed to recover a significant portion of his collection.
The woman, who lives in the United States, informed the Argentine judicial system of her interest in recovering the painting. He formalized it through a presentation by lawyers and In recent days, she was confirmed as a plaintiff in this judicial process.
Although he did not make public statements, it was revealed that von Sahr and his legal representatives were surprised not because the painting appeared in Argentina but because of this reluctance to return it, as observed in the position of Patricia Cadgin, who hid the work for several days until she finally handed it over to justice.
In the Attorney General’s Office, as confirmed by LA NACION, they also hope that the delegation of Argentine Israeli Associations (DAIA) will be presented in the case asMikos Kuriai Thus contributing to a kind of technical cooperation in research.