Search for painting looted by Nazis may have found more stolen art

The daughter of a Nazi fugitive is under house arrest in Argentina after a search of her property failed to find a long-lost stolen painting.

Prosecutors say the looted artwork was no longer at the house, but raids at other properties linked to the family have turned up other pieces that may have been stolen during the war.

Portrait of a Lady, by Italian master Giuseppe Ghislandi, had been missing for 80 years before it was spotted last month on an estate agent's website, where a photo showed it hanging in a house that had belonged to Patricia Kadgien's late father, Friedrich Kadgien.

Kadgien senior was a top adviser to Hermann Goring, who plundered thousands of works from across Europe.

Patricia Kadgien and her husband were ordered to remain under house arrest for three days starting Monday, local media reported. They will be questioned for obstructing the investigation to locate the painting, according to a judicial official quoted in local media.

The pair are expected to face a hearing on Thursday, where they will likely be charged with "concealment of theft in the context of genocide", the official added.

The couple insist they are the rightful owners of the artwork, which they had inherited, according to Argentina's La Nacion newspaper.

The lawyer for Kadgien's daughter, Carlos Murias, told local newspaper La Capital that the pair would cooperate with the authorities. However, prosecutors on Tuesday said the artwork had not yet been handed over.

Four other properties were searched in the hunt for the painting, the prosecutor's office said.

During these searches, two paintings and a series of drawings and engravings from the 19th Century were found at the home of Ms Kadgien's sister, La Capital reported, and will be analysed to determine if they are items stolen during the war.

The painting first spotted online, Portrait of a Lady, was among the collection of Amsterdam art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, much of which was forcibly sold by the Nazis after his death. It is listed on a database of art stolen by the Nazis.

Peter Schouten of the Dutch Algemeen Dagblad (AD) newspaper, which broke the initial story about the long-lost artwork's reappearance, said there was evidence "the painting was removed shortly afterwards or after the media reports about it appeared".

"There's now a large rug with horses and some nature scenes hanging there, which police say looks like something else used to hang there."

Following the photo's appearance, one of the sisters told the Dutch paper she didn't know what they wanted from her, nor what painting they "are talking about".

Lawyers for Goudstikker's estate said they would make every effort to reclaim the painting.

Some of the works owned by Goudstikker were recovered in Germany after the war, and put on display in Amsterdam as part of the Dutch national collection.

His sole-surviving heir, daughter-in-law Marei von Saher, said her family "aims to bring back every single artwork robbed from Jacques' collection, and to restore his legacy".

According to AD, she took possession of 202 pieces in 2006.