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The family members of a Jewish pair have filed a lawsuit against The Met, alleging that a Vincent van Gogh canvas was looted by the Third Reich.

Case History

According to the court documents, the Stern couple purchased the piece, titled Olive Picking, in 1935. A year after, they were compelled to leave their home in the German city of Munich prior to the Second World War.

The complaint states that the institution, which purchased the artwork in the 1950s for $125,000, must have realized it was likely stolen property. The family are now demanding the restitution of the artwork along with financial restitution.

Following the war, this plundered piece has been repeatedly and secretly trafficked, purchased and sold in and through NYC, claims the court document.

Family's Flight

The Sterns departed from their Munich home to the United States in 1936 with their offspring due to the oppressive Nazi regime. However, they were unable to bring the Van Gogh piece, which was created by the renowned Dutch in 1889.

Before the family's emigration, the Nazi government classified the artwork as property of the state and banned the couple from exporting it. After obtaining permission from a Third Reich agent, a representative assigned by the regime auctioned the painting on the Sterns' behalf. But, the proceeds from the auction were held in a frozen account, which the authorities later seized.

Later Transactions

Around 1948, or soon after, the artwork was brought to NYC and was bought by Vincent Astor, one of America's wealthiest people. Eventually, it was transferred through a commercial outlet to the museum, which then sold it to Greek shipping magnate the magnate and his partner, Mrs. Goulandris, in 1972.

Basil and Elise set up the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation in 1979, which runs a institution in Athens where the masterpiece is currently shown.

Legal Arguments

The foundation and a family member of Basil Goulandris are identified in the suit. The filing alleges that the defendants and its affiliates have covered up the painting's ownership and whereabouts from the plaintiffs.

Even now, the Goulandris Defendants continue to conceal how and when the foundation came into ownership of the piece; the couple's ownership of the masterpiece from 1935 to 1938; and the facts that the Third Reich stole the Painting from the heirs, pressured the couple into disposing of it via a Nazi-appointed agent, and confiscated the money of the sale.

Previous Legal Action

The descendants initiated a similar complaint in CA in recently, but it was thrown out in 2024. An further action was also dismissed in recently.

Museum's Response

The complaint contends that the Met's purchase of the piece was authorized by a curator, the institution's specialist of Old Masters and a leading authority on Nazi-era looted art. The institution and its expert were aware or ought to have been aware that the artwork had almost certainly been seized by Nazis.

The museum responded that it takes seriously its historical dedication to address claims from the Nazi period.

An official stated: Never during the institution's custody of the artwork was there any documentation that it had previously been owned to the Stern family – indeed, that knowledge did not become available until several decades after the masterpiece left the Met's possession.

The institution's deaccessioning of Olive Picking met the museum's strict criteria for disposal – in particular, it was noted that the work was judged to be of inferior standard than additional artworks of the similar kind in the holdings. Even though The Met upholds its view that this work entered the collection and was sold properly and well within all guidelines and policies, the museum invites and will examine any new information that comes to light.

Goulandris Statement

A lawyer on behalf of BEG stated: BEG is a renowned institution in Athens. The attempt to sue and smear the Foundation and the Goulandris family in the US upon deceptive and insufficient accusations was already thrown out, multiple times. We are convinced it will be a third time.