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The descendants of a Jewish couple have filed a lawsuit against New York's Metropolitan Museum, claiming that a Vincent van Gogh oil painting was seized by the Third Reich.

Case History

According to the lawsuit, Frederick and Hedwig Stern purchased the painting, titled Olive Picking, in 1935. Just one year later, they were forced to flee their residence in the German city of Munich on the eve of World War II.

The suit argues that the Met, which obtained the painting in 1956 for $125,000, must have realized 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 plundered piece has been repeatedly and secretly trafficked, acquired and disposed of in and through NYC, alleges the legal filing.

Forced Emigration

The Stern family escaped from Munich to America in 1936 with their large family due to persecution by the Nazis. Nevertheless, they were prevented from taking the Van Gogh piece, which was painted by the celebrated artist in 1889.

Before they left, Nazi authorities declared the masterpiece as German cultural property and forbade the family from exporting it. Once approved from a regime representative, a representative assigned by the Nazis disposed of the painting on the couple's behalf. Yet, the money from the sale were deposited in a frozen account, which the regime later took.

Post-War History

By 1948, or soon after, the artwork was brought to the United States and was bought by a wealthy American, a member of the Astor family. Later, it was exchanged through a art dealer to the institution, which then transferred it to Greek shipping magnate the magnate and his spouse, Elise Goulandris, in the early 1970s.

The Greek couple established the Goulandris Foundation in 1979, which operates a institution in Athens, Greece where the painting is currently on display.

Legal Arguments

BEG and a living relative of Goulandris are listed as respondents. The lawsuit states that the defendants and its affiliates have concealed and disguised the painting's ownership and whereabouts from the heirs.

Even now, the foundation continue to conceal how and when the BEG came into ownership of the artwork; the couple's ownership of the masterpiece from 1935 to 1938; and the facts that the Nazis confiscated the artwork from the heirs, forced the family into selling it via a trustee, and took the proceeds of the transaction.

Previous Legal Action

The Stern heirs filed a related lawsuit in CA in 2022, but it was thrown out in the following years. An appeal was also rejected in spring 2025.

Institution's Statement

The complaint argues that the institution's buying of the artwork was sanctioned by a curator, the Met's authority of European art and one of the world's foremost experts on art theft during the Nazi era. Rousseau and the Met must have known that the artwork had likely been stolen by the regime.

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

A spokesperson commented: Never during The Met's ownership of the piece was there any documentation that it had previously been owned to the Stern family – indeed, that data did not become accessible until several decades after the painting left the Museum's collection.

The Met's sale of the Van Gogh met the museum's strict criteria for deaccessioning – in particular, it was documented that the piece was judged to be of lesser quality than additional artworks of the similar kind in the collection. Although The Met maintains its position that this work entered the collection and was removed properly and well within all rules and regulations, the museum welcomes and will consider any additional details that is discovered.

BEG's Response

William Charron acting for the Goulandris Foundation commented: BEG is a renowned institution in Athens. The action to sue and smear the institution and the Goulandris family in the US upon misleadingly incomplete allegations was already thrown out, twice. We are confident it will be a third time.