An Argentine judge has ruled that a painting looted by the Nazis from a Dutch Jewish art collector during World War II must be returned to his family, according to lawyers representing the owner’s descendants.
The 18th-century work, “Portrait of a Lady,” had been missing for roughly eight decades when it resurfaced in August 2025, after it was spotted by journalists from the Dutch newspaper AD in an online real estate listing for a property in Mar del Plata, Argentina. The listing showed it hanging above a green couch in the home of the daughter of a high-ranking Nazi.
After the revelation last year, local prosecutors entered the house owned by the woman, Patricia Kadgien, and her husband, Juan Carlos Cortegoso, only to find that the painting had been removed. Ms. Kadgien’s father is the Nazi who stole the painting and has since died, Friedrich Kadgien.
Prosecutors later charged the couple with aggravated cover-up for hiding the piece looted during World War II.
On Friday, a judge in Mar del Plata ruled that the painting should be returned to its rightful owner, while suspending the criminal case and placing Ms. Kadgien and Mr. Cortegoso on a two-year probation, said Herbie Robinson, a lawyer in Argentina who is representing the owner’s sole heir.
The painting originally belonged to the Dutch Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker. In 1940, the Nazis forced Mr. Goudstikker to sell his gallery, and the painting ended up in the hands of Friedrich Kadgien, who was a financial adviser to Adolf Hitler.
The judge, Santiago Inchausti, also ordered the couple to donate a sum of money to a public institution in Mar del Plata, Mr. Robinson said in a phone interview on Monday.
The painting was initially thought to have been by the hand of the Italian painter Giuseppe Ghislandi. Since then, experts have said that it was more likely painted by Giacomo Ceruti, another 18th-century Italian painter, Mr. Robinson said.
The painting was one of many artworks in Mr. Goudstikker’s collection. Mr. Goudstikker had a small black notebook in which he cataloged his inventory of about 1,400 artworks. He took it with him when he fled the Nazi-occupied Netherlands in 1940 with his wife and son on a cargo ship bound for England.
Mr. Goudstikker died on the ship. But his widow saved the notebook, which has since served as an important piece of evidence in a legal battle to reclaim the artworks taken from his family.
The painting will be returned to Marei von Saher, Mr. Goudstikker’s daughter-in-law and official heir, in the coming weeks or months, Mr. Robinson said. The artwork has been kept at the Supreme Court of Buenos Aires since last year, after Ms. Kadgien and her husband handed it to the Argentine authorities.
“I am thrilled with the court’s decision to restitute this important artwork and restore a piece of Jacques Goudstikker’s legacy,” Ms. von Saher said in an emailed statement. “Every artwork returned matters to my family and strengthens our resolve to continue our pursuit of justice.”
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