On Monday, the internet lit up after Algemeen Dagblad published an explosive investigation by Peter Schouten, John van den Oetelaar, and Cyril Rosman, revealing the identification of two World War II-era paintings linked to the family of Friedrich Gustav Kadgien, sparking renewed attention to Nazi-looted art hidden abroad.  Kadgien, a Nazi SS officer, served as Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring’s liaison with Swiss banks in his work connected with Germany's Vierjahresplan before splitting for Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay as Germany lost the war.

Friedrich Kadgien's visa for Uruguay.

Building on this revelation, ARCA released its own article yesterday, outlining some of our parallel research into the tragic losses of Amsterdam dealer Jacques Goudstikker, as well as tracing a brief outline of Kadgien’s movements before and after his escape to South America.  As the case remained a developing one, we discussed only the general outlines of our own OSINT and SOCMINT explorations,  in order to give Kadgien's relatives time to respond. 

Today, journalists Schouten and Rosman reported that federal prosecutor Carlos Martínez has opened a case of concealment of smuggling, in cooperation with INTERPOL and the Policía Federal Argentina. As a result of this investigation law enforcement officers from Mar del Plata's Special Investigations Unit executed a search warrant, authorised by the Mar del Plata Court of Guarantees No. 2, which was carried out at a home in Mar del Plata in search of the 17th century painting Portrait of a Lady by Giuseppe Vittore Ghislandi, looted during World War II.  Kadgien 's youngest daughter, accompanied by her husband and lawyer, were present during the search.

During the police raid, investigators discovered that the family had removed the artwork, leaving its current whereabouts unknown.  Where it had hung on the wall, a tapestry with a horse had been hung.  Despite this, more than 25 prints from German and French collections from the 1940s were seized, along with relevant documentation, two cell phones, a revolver, and a shotgun.

This painting, by Italian artist Giuseppe Ghislandi, was stolen from Jacques Goudstikker's collection when the Jewish Dutch art dealer fled the Netherlands as it was invaded by Nazi Germany

This case got underway after the artwork depicting Cecilia Colleoni had been discovered in a photograph uploaded for a Robles Casas & Campos real estate advertisement.  The image depicted the 17th century countess behind a green couch next to a wooden and glass tile coffee table, which unfortunately, by mistake or design, forms the shape of a swastika, an ancient religious symbol, adopted by Adolf Hitler to represent the German Reich

The Nazi used the right facing form of a swastika at an angle of 45 degrees with the corners pointing upwards.

Shortly after the news broke in Europe this week, Robles Casas & Campos removed the photos and changed the Mar del Plata housing listing to another property in barrio Parque Luro located 5 km away. Reviewing documents for Argentine companies listed as Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada ARCA found that the original Buenos Aires home, located at Padre Cardiel 4152, Mar del Plata, was owned, and/or occupied, by Kadgien's younger daughter, Patricia Mónica Kadgien and her partner Juan Carlos Cortegoso.  

As the story gained steam within the international press, Patricia Kadgien, who had already stopped communicating with the Dutch journalists, switched all of her social media channels private, as did other relatives and former employees of the family.  As an added precaution, Kadgien, also changed her online name from Patricia Kadgien to Monica Cortegoso.  

But before these changes were made, ARCA had already captured a series of photos posted by the former SS officer's daughter, which were of two additional artworks. 

One was described by the Dutch journalists as a still life painting depicting a crowded display of peaches and other fruit, a bird's nest, insects and a lizard.  This oil painting is believed to have been completed by the German artist Abraham Mignon (1640–1679), and was also being searched for as a World War II era loss by the Dutch Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed. 

ARCA captured a grouping of images of this artwork posted on Kadgien's socials in 2011, which showed what is believed to be the Mignon painting displayed behind three individuals.  While the wall-mounted light illuminating the painting from above causes the artwork to be out of focus, we could clearly see three peaches poking through. 

Still life painting by Abraham Mignon which was known to have been purchased by Friedrich Gustav Kadgien, a lawyer responsible for foreign currency procurement through Swiss front companies for the Vierjahresplan.

Discovered 3rd painting in a rental residence advertised by Kadgien's daughter.

Two of the original images ARCA captured from a 2019 posting before the take-downs occurred, showed the exterior of this property.  One of these corresponds to a newer December 2023 photo uploaded by Kadgien's daughter which depicts the same house, showing a portion of the same veranda and the same white table. 

This third artwork can also be seen in this local Ahora Mar del Plata news site photo, showing that it was seized along with other suspect works when the search warrant was executed.  This painting and these other works on paper, will now need to be sifted through, though we can already see that some of the prints appear to be part of the Henri Matisse. Seize peintures 1939-1943, a First Edition set of 16 Prints

Published by Les Editions du Chene in Paris in 1943. 

For now, the Portrait of a Lady by Giuseppe Vittore Ghislandi has not been recovered.  Nor, it seems, has the other high value still life by Abraham Mignon.  One has to hope that Patricia, her husband, her sister Alicia Maria Kadgien or other members of the family, will cooperate more with police and prosecutors than they did with the journalists covering this evolving and long time coming story. 

For our preceding article on this case see this link. 

By Lynda Albertson and Alice Bientinesi