The descendants of a Jewish spouses have filed a lawsuit against New York's Metropolitan Museum, asserting that a Vincent van Gogh art piece was looted by the Nazis.
Historical Background
According to the legal filing, the Stern couple bought the piece, titled Olive Picking, in 1935. A year after, they were forced to flee their residence in the German city of Munich just before WWII.
The suit states that the Met, which purchased the artwork in 1956 for one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars, ought to have been aware it was almost certainly confiscated property. The heirs are now demanding the return of the painting along with damages.
Following WWII, this plundered piece has been often and discreetly exchanged, bought and sold in and through NYC, alleges the lawsuit.
The Sterns' Escape
The Sterns escaped from the city of Munich to California in the late 1930s with their offspring due to Nazi persecution. Yet, they were unable to bring the artwork, which was painted by the celebrated artist in 1889.
Before the family's emigration, the Nazi government designated the painting as German cultural property and banned the couple from taking it abroad. Once approved from a Nazi official, a representative appointed by the Nazis auctioned the piece on the Sterns' behalf. However, the proceeds from the transaction were deposited in a blocked account, which the regime later seized.
Later Transactions
Around 1948, or soon after, the canvas entered the United States and was purchased by a prominent figure, a member of the Astor family. Eventually, it was exchanged through a art dealer to the Met, which then passed it on to wealthy Greek businessman the magnate and his partner, Mrs. Goulandris, in the early 1970s.
The Goulandris pair founded the Goulandris Foundation in the late 1970s, which operates a institution in the Greek capital where the artwork is currently exhibited.
Claims and Defenses
The institution and a living relative of the magnate are identified in the suit. The lawsuit states that the family and its associated organizations have hidden and obscured the painting's ownership and location from the heirs.
To this day, the defendants continue to obscure how and when the institution came into control of the piece; the Stern family's ownership of the masterpiece from the mid-1930s; and the reality that the Third Reich confiscated the artwork from the Stern family, coerced the Sterns into disposing of it via a Nazi-appointed agent, and took the money of the transaction.
Earlier Lawsuits
The descendants filed a related lawsuit in California in the year 2022, but it was dismissed in 2024. An further action was also denied in spring 2025.
Institution's Statement
The lawsuit states that the Met's purchase of the piece was authorized by the museum's expert, the museum's curator of European art and a leading authority on art theft during the Nazi era. The institution and its expert must have known that the artwork had almost certainly been seized by the Nazis.
The Met said in a statement that it is committed to its ongoing pledge to address claims from the Nazi period.
An official stated: At no time during The Met's ownership of the piece was there any documentation that it had once belonged to the heirs – in fact, that data did not become known until many years after the painting left the Met's possession.
The Met's sale of Olive Picking met the Met's guidelines for deaccessioning – specifically, it was noted that the work was judged to be of lower caliber than additional artworks of the comparable nature in the inventory. While The Met maintains its view that this work entered the holdings and was sold lawfully and well within all guidelines and policies, the institution invites and will examine any new information that emerges.
Foundation's Defense
Legal counsel representing the Goulandris Foundation said: BEG is a esteemed foundation in Greece. The effort to take legal action against the organization and the defendants in the America upon misleadingly incomplete allegations was earlier rejected, on two occasions. We are certain it will be once more.
