BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -Argentine authorities failed to locate an iconic painting stolen decades ago by the Nazis when they raided a house in which it was spotted in a real estate photo, prolonging the mystery of the artwork’s post-war fate.
The home, in Argentina’s coastal city of Mar del Plata, was up for sale via an online real estate listing that featured a photo showing the painting hanging on a wall over a sofa in one of the rooms, according to an investigation by Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad (AD) published this week.
The painting, a 17th-century masterpiece, is a portrait of Contessa Colleoni by Italian artist Giuseppe Ghislandi. Missing for 80 years, it is featured on a database of lost wartime art.
It was among more than 1,000 works of art stolen by the Nazis from Amsterdam-based art dealer Jacques Goudstikker who died in 1940, according to AD, which also reported on documents suggesting it was in the possession of Friedrich Kadgien, a senior official in Adolf Hitler’s government who moved to Argentina after World War II. Kadgien died in 1979.
The home in the real estate listing, according to AD, is owned by Patricia Kadgien, one of Kadgien’s two daughters who live in Argentina.
Reuters was not immediately able to contact Patricia Kadgien.
Argentine authorities raided the home on Tuesday in an attempt to find the painting, but said they had not located it.
“We had indications that the painting might be in this residence,” Argentina federal prosecutor Carlos Martinez told journalists outside the home after the raid.
“The painting wasn’t in the house, but we seized some documents related to engravings and drawings that might provide context,” he said, adding that weapons were also confiscated, though they are not believed to be connected to the case.
“At the moment, we have two individuals under investigation – owners of the property linked to possession of the painting,” Martinez said.
(Reporting by Lucila Sigal, editing by Cassandra Garrison and Nia Williams)
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