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The descendants of a Jewish pair have filed a lawsuit against The Metropolitan Museum of Art, asserting that a Vincent van Gogh art piece was looted by the Third Reich.

Case History

According to the legal filing, Hedwig and Frederick Stern acquired the artwork, titled Gathering Olives, in the mid-1930s. A year after, they were forced to flee their home in the German city of Munich just before World War II.

The legal action argues that the institution, which obtained the masterpiece in 1956 for a significant sum, should have known it was likely looted property. The heirs are now requesting the return of the canvas along with damages.

Since the end of the war, this Nazi-looted painting has been frequently and covertly traded, purchased and sold in and through NYC, alleges the legal filing.

The Sterns' Escape

Hedwig and Frederick Stern fled from their Munich home to America in the late 1930s with their large family due to the oppressive Nazi regime. Yet, they were unable to bring the artwork, which was produced by the Dutch post-impressionist in 1889.

Prior to their departure, the regime declared the masterpiece as a German cultural asset and forbade the couple from bringing it with them. After obtaining permission from a regime representative, a agent assigned by the authorities auctioned the artwork on the Sterns' behalf. But, the money from the sale were held in a restricted account, which the authorities later seized.

Subsequent Ownership

By 1948, or not long after, the painting entered NYC and was bought by a wealthy American, among the richest individuals in the US. Later, it was transferred through a commercial outlet to the Met, which then transferred it to prominent shipowner Goulandris and his partner, Elise Goulandris, in 1972.

The Greek couple founded the Goulandris Foundation in 1979, which manages a gallery in Athens, Greece where the painting is currently exhibited.

Legal Arguments

The institution and a family member of the magnate are identified in the suit. The legal action alleges that the defendants and its affiliates have concealed and disguised the artwork's provenance and location from the family.

To this day, the foundation continue to conceal the circumstances the foundation came into ownership of the artwork; the family's possession of the Painting from the mid-1930s; and the facts that the Third Reich confiscated the Painting from the family, coerced the couple into parting with it via a Nazi-appointed agent, and confiscated the proceeds of the transaction.

Earlier Lawsuits

The Stern heirs submitted a comparable case in CA in recently, but it was dismissed in 2024. An further action was also denied in recently.

Museum's Response

The legal action contends that the institution's buying of the artwork was sanctioned by Theodore Rousseau Jr, the Met's authority of European art and one of the world's foremost experts on Nazi-era looted art. Rousseau and the Met were aware or ought to have been aware that the Painting had almost certainly been stolen by the regime.

The institution said in a statement that it takes seriously its historical dedication to address issues related to WWII.

An official stated: Never during The Met's ownership of the piece was there any documentation that it had once belonged to the heirs – actually, that information did not become known until several decades after the masterpiece left the Museum's collection.

The museum's disposal of the Van Gogh met the institution's rigorous standards for deaccessioning – in particular, it was recorded that the artwork was considered to be of lower caliber than other pieces of the similar kind in the collection. Even though the museum maintains its view that this piece entered the collection and was removed legally and well within all rules and regulations, the institution invites and will examine any additional details that comes to light.

BEG's Response

A lawyer acting for the Goulandris Foundation stated: BEG is a esteemed foundation in Greece. The attempt to sue and smear the Foundation and the defendants in the US upon deceptive and insufficient accusations was previously dismissed, multiple times. We are certain it will be once more.