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The family members of a Jewish spouses have filed a lawsuit against The Metropolitan Museum of Art, claiming that a Van Gogh art piece was looted by the Third Reich.

Origins of the Dispute

As stated in the court documents, Hedwig and Frederick Stern purchased the artwork, titled Gathering Olives, in the year 1935. A year after, they were forced to flee their residence in Munich prior to WWII.

The legal action states that the institution, which obtained the painting in the 1950s for $125,000, should have known it was likely looted property. The descendants are now requesting the repatriation of the painting along with financial restitution.

Since the end of World War II, this stolen artwork has been frequently and covertly traded, bought and sold in and through NYC, alleges the lawsuit.

Forced Emigration

The Sterns departed from their Munich home to California in 1936 with their offspring due to the oppressive Nazi regime. However, they were unable to bring the artwork, which was produced by the Dutch post-impressionist in the late 19th century.

Before the family's emigration, the regime designated the artwork as property of the state and prohibited the couple from bringing it with them. Once approved from a Third Reich agent, a agent appointed by the Nazis sold the artwork on the couple's behalf. But, the money from the transaction were deposited in a blocked account, which the authorities later took.

Subsequent Ownership

By 1948, or shortly after, the painting arrived in NYC and was purchased by a wealthy American, among the richest individuals in the US. Subsequently, it was exchanged through a art dealer to the museum, which then transferred it to Greek shipping magnate the magnate and his partner, Mrs. Goulandris, in 1972.

Basil and Elise founded the Goulandris Foundation in the late 1970s, which operates a gallery in Athens, Greece where the artwork is currently on display.

Legal Arguments

BEG and a family member of Goulandris are identified in the suit. The lawsuit states that the defendants and its related entities have hidden and obscured the painting's ownership and whereabouts from the plaintiffs.

To this day, the defendants continue to hide the circumstances the foundation came into ownership of the piece; the family's possession of the masterpiece from the mid-1930s; and the reality that the regime confiscated the canvas from the heirs, forced the family into parting with it via a regime representative, and seized the funds of the transaction.

Earlier Lawsuits

The Stern heirs filed a comparable case in CA in 2022, but it was thrown out in 2024. An appeal was also dismissed in spring 2025.

Institution's Statement

The lawsuit states that the institution's buying of the artwork was approved by a curator, the Met's authority of European art and a leading authority on art theft during the Nazi era. The curator and the museum were aware or ought to have been aware that the artwork had likely been stolen by the regime.

The Met issued a statement that it prioritizes its longstanding commitment to resolve claims from the Nazi period.

An official stated: Never during The Met's ownership of the painting was there any evidence that it had once belonged to the family – in fact, that information did not become available until a long time after the masterpiece left the Museum's collection.

The museum's disposal of the artwork 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 other pieces of the similar kind in the holdings. Although the institution upholds its view that this work entered the inventory and was deaccessioned properly and well within all rules and regulations, the Met welcomes and will consider any new information that is discovered.

Foundation's Defense

Legal counsel acting for the foundation commented: BEG is a highly prestigious organization in Greece. The attempt to take legal action against the organization and the defendants in the United States upon inaccurate and partial claims was already thrown out, multiple times. We are convinced it will be again.