The case began after Dutch reporters announced they had identified the stolen painting from a published real estate photo which depicted the artwork hanging inside Patricia Kadgien's residence at Padre Cardiel 4152 in the Mar del Plata neighbourhood.  Around the same time, a complaint from the Customs Collection and Control Agency attached to the Buenos Aires Customs House was opened for the alleged crime of concealing smuggling, and a search of the property was authorised by the Mar del Plata Court of Guarantees No. 2 at the request of Carlos Martínez, a prosecutor with the Federal Court's Office for Simple Crimes. 

According to Argentine law, search warrants of this type must be notified, at the time of their execution, to the owner or possessor, or failing that, to any adult present at the premises, preferably the relatives of the former, inviting them to witness said search.  This explains the presence of Patricia Mónica Kadgien and Juan Carlos Cortegoso's lawyer over the five hours when the Mar del Plata Special Investigations Unit executed their search at the home.

Once the house search had been carried out, the prosecutor was required to draw up a report recording the outcome of the search, noting all circumstances that may be of importance to the case.  This report was then signed by all those involved in the search.

As we know from journalistic reports last week, by this point in time the family had intentionally moved the stolen painting elsewhere, replacing its place on the wall with a large carpet.

In a statement given to the daily Spanish-language newspaper La Capital, by the family's attorney, Murias, said "Technically, the painting is being filed as a result of a judicial process. It is being filed in the Civil Court, which we consider competent to resolve this matter, not in the Criminal Court, in the context of an alleged complaint filed by Arca for a crime that my client is allegedly being charged with for 'covering up smuggling..."

Yesterday, Patricia Kadgien and her husband were placed under house arrest for 72 hours while the case remained under investigation by federal prosecutor Carlos Martínez.  Police confirm an additional three searches have been carried out at addresses in and around Buenos Aires, including one at an apartment located at Calle Santa Fe 1700.  In the interim, the judge assigned to this case has ordered that the summary of these actions be kept sealed for 48 hours, meaning we will have to wait to know what details and evidence was found during these other searches at homes linked to Kadgien and the couple’s relatives.

As of now, neither Friedrich Kadgien's daughter nor his son in law, has been charged in the criminal court with obstructing a police investigation for what appears, at least  on the surface, to have been the intentional removal of the Ghislandi painting to impede its seizure.  Yet, the deeper question persists: why continue to shield and deny, when the opportunity exists to make amends? Especially given Patricia Kadgien was just thirteen when her father died. 

On principle alone, one might expect her or her sister Alicia Maria Kadgien to step forward, to repudiate the sins of their father, and to return what was stolen.  Imagine having the chance to reconcile, even in a small way, with history’s injustices, and the things your family did, only to choose instead to perpetuate them.

3 September 2025 Update: Argentina’s Federal Attorney General Daniel Adler announced that the painting  "Portrait of a Lady" stolen from Jacques Goudstikker has been placed under protection after Argentine Judge Patricia Noemí Juárez, of the 11th Civil Court, held that after analyzing the elements incorporated into the case and a hearing held with the Federal Prosecutor, "I must conclude that the ordinary jurisdiction is not competent to intervene in a case where the Federal Justice is ultimately pursuing the seizure of a work of art with an alleged illicit origin."

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