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The heirs of a Jewish spouses have initiated legal proceedings against The Metropolitan Museum of Art, claiming that a the Dutch artist canvas was seized by the Third Reich.

Case History

According to the court documents, Hedwig and Frederick Stern bought the painting, titled Olive Harvest, in 1935. The following year, they were forced to flee their dwelling in the German city of Munich just before WWII.

The complaint argues that the museum, which obtained the artwork in the mid-1950s for one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars, ought to have been aware it was almost certainly confiscated property. The descendants are now seeking the restitution of the canvas along with compensation.

Since the end of WWII, this stolen artwork has been often and discreetly exchanged, bought and sold in and through NYC, claims the court document.

The Sterns' Escape

The Stern family escaped from Munich to America in 1936 with their offspring due to the oppressive Nazi regime. However, they were barred from transporting the Van Gogh piece, which was painted by the celebrated artist in the late 19th century.

Before the family's emigration, Nazi authorities classified the artwork as German cultural property and forbade the Sterns from taking it abroad. Following authorization from a Nazi official, a representative appointed by the Nazis sold the piece on the family's behalf. However, the money from the sale were held in a restricted account, which the Nazis later took.

Subsequent Ownership

Around 1948, or soon after, the painting arrived in New York and was purchased by a prominent figure, a member of the Astor family. Later, it was transferred through a gallery to the museum, which then sold it to Greek shipping magnate Goulandris and his partner, Mrs. Goulandris, in 1972.

The Goulandris pair established the BEG in the late 1970s, which operates a museum in Athens, Greece where the masterpiece is currently shown.

Claims and Defenses

The foundation and a family member of Basil Goulandris are identified in the suit. The lawsuit claims that the Goulandris family and its related entities have covered up the masterpiece's history and location from the heirs.

Currently, the defendants continue to hide the circumstances the institution came into control of the piece; the family's possession of the masterpiece from the mid-1930s; and the facts that the Third Reich stole the canvas from the heirs, forced the family into selling it via a Nazi-appointed agent, and confiscated the money of the transaction.

Prior Cases

The Stern heirs submitted a comparable case in California in the year 2022, but it was thrown out in 2024. An legal challenge was also denied in recently.

The Met's Position

The lawsuit argues that the Met's purchase of the piece was authorized by the museum's expert, the institution's specialist of Old Masters and one of the world's foremost experts on Nazi-era looted art. The institution and its expert must have known that the masterpiece had probably been stolen by the Nazis.

The Met said in a statement that it takes seriously its longstanding commitment to handle claims from the Nazi period.

An official commented: Never during The Met's ownership of the artwork was there any evidence that it had earlier been possessed to the heirs – in fact, that information did not become known until several decades after the artwork left the Museum's collection.

The institution's deaccessioning of Olive Picking met the Met's guidelines for disposal – specifically, it was documented that the piece was judged to be of lower caliber than additional artworks of the comparable nature in the holdings. Even though the institution upholds its view that this piece entered the collection and was sold properly and well within all standards and procedures, the museum is open to and will review any additional details that comes to light.

Foundation's Defense

Legal counsel on behalf of the foundation said: BEG is a renowned institution in the Greek capital. The attempt to litigate and defame the organization and the family in the US upon misleadingly incomplete allegations was earlier rejected, multiple times. We are convinced it will be once more.