A painting missing since World War II has surfaced in an unlikely spot: above a sofa in an Argentinian beach town. "Portrait of a Lady (Contessa Colleoni)" by the Italian baroque artist Giuseppe Ghislandi, looted by the Nazis from Dutch Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker during the German occupation of Amsterdam, was recently spotted in a property listing, the Guardian reports. The Dutch paper AD tracked the artwork for years, sifting through wartime records and even knocking on the doors of the descendants of the Nazi tied to its wartime disappearance.
Goudstikker's vast trove—more than 1,100 works—was forcibly sold to Nazi leader Hermann Göring shortly after the art dealer escaped the Netherlands in 1940 (tragically, he ultimately died in an accident on the boat he was traveling on to safety). While hundreds of pieces were recovered and returned to Goudstikker's family in 2006, this portrait had vanished, with evidence suggesting it landed with Friedrich Kadgien, an SS officer and Göring aide who ended up in South America after the war.
Attempts by AD reporters to contact Kadgien's descendants in Buenos Aires hit a wall—literally, as no one answered the door. But the home was listed for sale, and when a reporter scrolled through a real estate agency's photos on the listing, the lost painting came into view, still hanging in the living room. Art historians say the match appears spot-on, though only an in-person inspection can confirm it's not a copy. Following the paper's discovery, Argentinian police raided the villa, the AP reports. The painting was not found, but the investigation continues and charges are being considered.
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