🔗 Share this article

The descendants of a Jewish spouses have initiated legal proceedings against New York's Metropolitan Museum, claiming that a Vincent van Gogh art piece was stolen by the Third Reich.

Case History

Per the court documents, Frederick and Hedwig Stern bought the painting, titled Olive Harvest, in the year 1935. A year after, they were forced to flee their dwelling in Munich, Germany on the eve of WWII.

The complaint states that the institution, which obtained the masterpiece in the 1950s for one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars, ought to have been aware it was probably confiscated property. The heirs are now requesting the restitution of the canvas along with damages.

Since the end of WWII, this plundered piece has been often and discreetly exchanged, bought and sold in and through New York, claims the lawsuit.

Family's Flight

The Sterns departed from their Munich home to the United States in 1936 with their six children due to persecution by the Nazis. However, they were prevented from taking the painting, which was created by the celebrated artist in 1889.

Before the family's emigration, the regime designated the painting as German cultural property and prohibited the family from taking it abroad. Once approved from a regime representative, a trustee assigned by the Nazis disposed of the piece on the Sterns' behalf. But, the proceeds from the sale were held in a frozen account, which the regime later seized.

Later Transactions

By 1948, or shortly after, the artwork entered New York and was purchased by a prominent figure, among the richest individuals in the US. Subsequently, it was exchanged through a commercial outlet to the museum, which then sold it to Greek shipping magnate the magnate and his spouse, Elise Goulandris, in 1972.

The Greek couple set up the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation in 1979, which manages a gallery in Athens where the artwork is currently on display.

Legal Arguments

BEG and a living relative of Goulandris are listed as respondents. The legal action states that the defendants and its affiliates have hidden and obscured the masterpiece's history and location from the heirs.

To this day, the foundation continue to obscure how and when the foundation came into possession of the piece; the family's possession of the artwork from several years; and the truth that the Nazis confiscated the Painting from the Stern family, forced the Sterns into selling it via a trustee, and seized the proceeds of the transaction.

Prior Cases

The family initiated a related lawsuit in California in recently, but it was thrown out in 2024. An appeal was also rejected in spring 2025.

Museum's Response

The complaint argues that the museum's acquisition of the painting was authorized by a curator, the institution's specialist of European art and one of the world's foremost experts on Nazi art looting. The institution and its expert must have known that the Painting had probably been stolen by Nazis.

The institution responded that it takes seriously its ongoing pledge to handle claims from the Nazi period.

A representative remarked: Never during The Met's ownership of the piece was there any record that it had previously been owned to the family – actually, that information did not become known until many years after the artwork left the institution's holdings.

The museum's disposal of Olive Picking met the museum's strict criteria for removal from collection – namely, it was recorded that the piece was judged to be of lesser quality than other pieces of the similar kind in the inventory. Even though the institution respectfully stands by its stance that this piece entered the collection and was removed legally and well within all rules and regulations, the museum is open to and will review any further evidence that comes to light.

BEG's Response

William Charron representing BEG commented: BEG is a esteemed foundation in the Greek capital. The action to take legal action against the institution and the family in the America upon deceptive and insufficient accusations was already thrown out, multiple times. We are confident it will be again.