🔗 Share this article

The descendants of a Jewish spouses have filed a lawsuit against The Met, claiming that a the Dutch artist oil painting was seized by the Third Reich.

Case History

According to the legal filing, Frederick and Hedwig Stern bought the piece, titled Olive Picking, in the mid-1930s. A year after, they were obliged to escape their home in Munich, Germany prior to World War II.

The legal action argues that the Met, which purchased the artwork in 1956 for a significant sum, ought to have been aware it was almost certainly confiscated property. The heirs are now seeking the restitution of the artwork along with financial restitution.

Following World War II, this Nazi-looted painting has been often and discreetly exchanged, acquired and disposed of in and through the city of New York, alleges the lawsuit.

Family's Flight

The Sterns fled from Munich to America in 1936 with their six children due to Nazi persecution. Yet, they were barred from transporting the Van Gogh piece, which was created by the celebrated artist in 1889.

Before the family's emigration, the Nazi government declared the artwork as property of the state and forbade the family from taking it abroad. Following authorization from a regime representative, a representative assigned by the authorities auctioned the artwork on the Sterns' behalf. Yet, the proceeds from the sale were held in a blocked account, which the regime later took.

Post-War History

By 1948, or not long after, the artwork was brought to New York and was purchased by a wealthy American, one of America's wealthiest people. Subsequently, it was sold through a art dealer to the institution, which then transferred it to Greek shipping magnate Goulandris and his partner, Elise, in 1972.

Basil and Elise founded the BEG in the late 1970s, which operates a museum in the Greek capital where the masterpiece is currently exhibited.

Claims and Defenses

BEG and a surviving nephew of the magnate are listed as respondents. The legal action alleges that the defendants and its affiliates have concealed and disguised the painting's ownership and current place from the plaintiffs.

To this day, the Goulandris Defendants continue to conceal the circumstances the BEG came into control of the Painting; the Stern family's ownership of the artwork from the mid-1930s; and the truth that the Nazis confiscated the canvas from the heirs, coerced the family into selling it via a trustee, and took the money of the deal.

Earlier Lawsuits

The descendants submitted a comparable case in CA in the year 2022, but it was dismissed in 2024. An appeal was also rejected in spring 2025.

Museum's Response

The complaint contends that the institution's buying of the painting was approved by Theodore Rousseau Jr, the museum's curator of Old Masters and a leading authority on Nazi-era looted art. The curator and the museum must have known that the artwork had almost certainly been looted by Nazis.

The museum responded that it is committed to its ongoing pledge to handle claims from the Nazi period.

A spokesperson stated: Never during the museum's possession of the painting was there any documentation that it had earlier been possessed to the family – indeed, that information did not become accessible until many years after the masterpiece left the Museum's collection.

The institution's deaccessioning of Olive Picking met the museum's strict criteria for removal from collection – namely, it was documented that the artwork was deemed to be of lesser quality than additional artworks of the comparable nature in the collection. While The Met upholds its position that this artwork entered the collection and was deaccessioned lawfully and well within all guidelines and policies, the Met invites and will examine any further evidence that comes to light.

Foundation's Defense

William Charron acting for the foundation said: The institution is a renowned institution in the Greek capital. The attempt to take legal action against the institution and the defendants in the US upon misleadingly incomplete allegations was previously dismissed, on two occasions. We are confident it will be a third time.