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Forensic Report Confirms Mar del Plata Portrait Is Nazi-Looted Goudstikker Work

A court-ordered expert report ties the 18th-century painting to Jacques Goudstikker’s dispossessed collection.

Overview

  • Marei von Saher, the 82-year-old heir to Goudstikker, has formally sought restitution in the Argentine case through local counsel.
  • Experts from the Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes reattributed the work to Giacomo Antonio Melchiorre Ceruti (Il Pitocchetto) and placed its market value near 250,000 euros.
  • The painting resurfaced after Dutch reporters spotted it in photos from a Mar del Plata home listing linked to the family of Friedrich Gustav Kadgien, a Nazi-era economic adviser.
  • Federal prosecutor Carlos Martínez opened a case that charges the home's occupants with concealment, with PROCELAC involved and the judge requesting input from DAIA.
  • Coverage differs on whether the painting was seized in the raid, with one report saying it was handed to the court and another saying it was missing and replaced by a tapestry.