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The heirs of a Jewish couple have brought a case against The Met, claiming that a Van Gogh canvas was seized by the Third Reich.

Case History

Per the legal filing, Frederick and Hedwig Stern acquired the piece, titled Gathering Olives, in the year 1935. The following year, they were obliged to escape their residence in Munich prior to World War II.

The legal action contends that the institution, which obtained the painting in the mid-1950s for one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars, should have known it was probably looted property. The heirs are now requesting the return of the canvas along with damages.

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

The Sterns' Escape

The Sterns departed from the city of Munich to the United States in 1936 with their offspring due to the oppressive Nazi regime. Yet, they were barred from transporting the Van Gogh piece, which was produced by the celebrated artist in 1889.

Prior to their departure, the Nazi government classified the masterpiece as a German cultural asset and prohibited the Sterns from bringing it with them. Following authorization from a regime representative, a trustee appointed by the regime auctioned the painting on the couple's behalf. Yet, the proceeds from the auction were held in a frozen account, which the regime later confiscated.

Subsequent Ownership

By 1948, or shortly after, the artwork entered New York and was acquired by a wealthy American, a member of the Astor family. Later, it was exchanged through a art dealer to the museum, which then transferred it to prominent shipowner Basil Goulandris and his partner, Elise Goulandris, in the early 1970s.

The Goulandris pair founded the Goulandris Foundation in the late 1970s, which manages a institution in Athens, Greece where the masterpiece is currently shown.

Legal Arguments

The institution and a family member of Basil Goulandris are identified in the suit. The legal action claims that the family and its related entities have hidden and obscured the painting's ownership and whereabouts from the plaintiffs.

Even now, the Goulandris Defendants continue to obscure how and when the BEG came into ownership of the artwork; the Stern family's ownership of the Painting from several years; and the truth that the Third Reich looted the artwork from the family, pressured the Sterns into disposing of it via a trustee, and took the money of the transaction.

Prior Cases

The descendants initiated a related lawsuit in CA in 2022, but it was dismissed in 2024. An further action was also rejected in recently.

Museum's Response

The legal action argues that the Met's purchase of the painting was approved by the museum's expert, the museum's curator of European art and a leading authority on Nazi art looting. The curator and the museum must have known that the artwork had almost certainly been seized by the regime.

The institution issued a statement that it takes seriously its ongoing pledge to handle claims from the Nazi period.

A representative commented: Not once during the museum's possession of the painting was there any documentation that it had once belonged to the heirs – indeed, that data did not become accessible until several decades after the artwork left the institution's holdings.

The institution's deaccessioning of the Van Gogh met the Met's guidelines for removal from collection – in particular, it was recorded that the work was judged to be of inferior standard than other pieces of the comparable nature in the collection. Although The Met upholds its stance that this artwork entered the collection and was deaccessioned legally and well within all standards and procedures, the institution invites and will examine any further evidence that is discovered.

Foundation's Defense

A lawyer acting for the Goulandris Foundation stated: BEG is a highly prestigious organization in Greece. The action to take legal action against the organization and the defendants in the America upon misleadingly incomplete allegations was already thrown out, twice. We are certain it will be once more.