The descendants of a Jewish couple have brought a case against The Metropolitan Museum of Art, alleging that a Van Gogh art piece was stolen by the Third Reich.
Per the lawsuit, the Stern couple acquired the artwork, titled Olive Picking, in the mid-1930s. The following year, they were compelled to leave their home in the German city of Munich on the eve of World War II.
The complaint argues that the Met, which obtained the masterpiece in the 1950s for a significant sum, must have realized it was probably stolen property. The family are now demanding the repatriation of the artwork along with compensation.
In the decades since the war, this stolen artwork has been frequently and covertly traded, purchased and sold in and through New York, alleges the legal filing.
Hedwig and Frederick Stern escaped from their Munich home to the United States in 1936 with their six children due to persecution by the Nazis. Yet, they were unable to bring the Van Gogh piece, which was painted by the renowned Dutch in 1889.
Before the family's emigration, Nazi authorities designated the artwork as German cultural property and prohibited the family from bringing it with them. Following authorization from a regime representative, a representative appointed by the Nazis disposed of the artwork on the Sterns' behalf. But, the funds from the sale were placed in a frozen account, which the regime later confiscated.
In 1948, or soon after, the artwork entered the United States and was purchased by a wealthy American, one of America's wealthiest people. Eventually, it was exchanged through a art dealer to the museum, which then passed it on to wealthy Greek businessman Goulandris and his partner, Elise, in 1972.
The Goulandris pair founded the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation in 1979, which operates a museum in the Greek capital where the painting is currently shown.
The institution and a living relative of Basil Goulandris are named as defendants. The lawsuit states that the Goulandris family and its affiliates have concealed and disguised the masterpiece's history and whereabouts from the plaintiffs.
Even now, the foundation continue to hide the manner and time the institution came into ownership of the piece; the couple's ownership of the Painting from several years; and the truth that the Nazis stole the Painting from the family, pressured the couple into parting with it via a regime representative, and took the proceeds of the sale.
The descendants filed a comparable case in the state of California in the year 2022, but it was rejected in 2024. An legal challenge was also dismissed in May 2025.
The complaint argues that the Met's purchase of the piece was authorized by a curator, the institution's specialist of European paintings and one of the world's foremost experts on art theft during the Nazi era. The curator and the museum must have known that the Painting had likely been seized by the Nazis.
The institution issued a statement that it is committed to its ongoing pledge to address issues related to WWII.
A representative commented: Not once during the museum's possession of the painting was there any record that it had previously been owned to the family – actually, that data did not become known until many years after the artwork left the Met's possession.
The Met's sale of the artwork met the Met's guidelines for removal from collection – in particular, it was noted that the work was deemed to be of lower caliber than other pieces of the similar kind in the inventory. Even though the institution upholds its view that this artwork entered the holdings and was sold lawfully and well within all rules and regulations, the museum is open to and will review any further evidence that emerges.
A lawyer representing BEG stated: BEG is a renowned institution in the Greek capital. The attempt to take legal action against the Foundation and the defendants in the US upon misleadingly incomplete allegations was earlier rejected, on two occasions. We are certain it will be again.
A seasoned gaming enthusiast with over a decade of experience in lottery analysis and casino reviews.
