It Takes 1 Decade, Investigation Journalist Finally Finds History Painting Stolen By Nazis During World War II

JAKARTA - A painting depicting a portrait of the 18th century stolen by the Nazis during World War II was found on the coast of Argentina.

It was neither law enforcement nor the museum that found it, but was accidentally seen in the property photo on a site. The artwork depends on the sofa at a house in Argentina

The painting titled "Portrait of a Lady" by Italian artist Giuseppe Vittore Ghislandi, which has been purchased by Jacques Goudsticker, a leading Dutch art trader, was seized after the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands in the 1940s.

There were more than 1,100 works of art from the Goudsticker collection that Nazi confiscated during that period.

According to the Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency (RCE), senior Nazi officials, including Hermann Göming, obtained hundreds of works of art from the confiscation.

For nearly a decade, Dutch daily newspaper investigative journalist Algemeen Dagblad (AD); Cyril Rosman, Paul Post, and Peter Schouten, have investigated the case of the seizure of this Nazi art object.

Rosman said the team of investigative journalists began tracking Friedrich Kadgien, financial adviser and Göring confidant, a few years ago, to trace the objects of art that were lost after being confiscated by the Nazis in World War II.

"Kadgien fled to South America at the end of the war," Rosman told ABC News.

"We know from archival documents that he brought diamonds, jewelry, and two stolen paintings. We've spent years trying to reunite his life here and where the paintings ended."

Kadgien later died in Buenos Aires in 1978. His two daughters inherited property in Mar del Plata, where the investigation eventually brought in Dutch daily AD journalists.

After years of deadlocks, the AD team decided to make one last effort. They sent Peter Schouten, an AD correspondent in Argentina, to visit the property.

"I rang the bell. Nobody answered, but we saw movement inside," recalls Schouten.

"Then we saw the sign "House Sold" next night."

After being secured, the investigative journalist team examined the painting carefully with official records of Nazi looted works. The team worked hand in hand to review the documentation related to the portrait painting.

"I didn't expect to find one of the paintings we were looking for lying down in the living room. It felt realist," said Rosman.

Arthur Brand, a Dutch art detective often called "the art scene's Jones, said the discovery highlights the unexpected nature of the rediscovery of looted works: "You can find them anywhere auction catalog, archives, attics, even property lists."

Rosman believes this case is just the beginning. "Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Nazi fugitives fled to Argentina after the war," he said. "Who knows how many more loot works end up here, secretly inherited between families?"