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The family members of a Jewish pair have brought a case against New York's Metropolitan Museum, asserting that a Van Gogh canvas was stolen by the Third Reich.

Historical Background

According to the court documents, Frederick and Hedwig Stern purchased the artwork, titled Gathering Olives, in the year 1935. The following year, they were forced to flee their residence in the German city of Munich prior to the Second World War.

The suit argues that the institution, which obtained the painting in 1956 for $125,000, ought to have been aware it was probably looted property. The heirs are now seeking the return of the canvas along with damages.

In the decades since World War II, this plundered piece has been frequently and covertly traded, bought and sold in and through the city of New York, claims the court document.

Forced Emigration

Hedwig and Frederick Stern fled from Munich to the United States in 1936 with their offspring due to persecution by the Nazis. Yet, they were prevented from taking the artwork, which was painted by the renowned Dutch in 1889.

Before the family's emigration, Nazi authorities classified the painting as property of the state and forbade the family from taking it abroad. After obtaining permission from a regime representative, a trustee designated by the regime auctioned the piece on the Sterns' behalf. Yet, the money from the sale were deposited in a blocked account, which the Nazis later confiscated.

Subsequent Ownership

By 1948, or soon after, the artwork arrived in New York and was acquired by a wealthy American, a member of the Astor family. Eventually, it was transferred through a gallery to the Met, which then passed it on to Greek shipping magnate Basil Goulandris and his spouse, Elise, in the early 1970s.

The Goulandris pair set up the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation in the late 1970s, which operates a museum in Athens, Greece where the artwork is currently shown.

Legal Arguments

The institution and a living relative of Basil Goulandris are identified in the suit. The filing alleges that the defendants and its related entities have concealed and disguised the artwork's provenance and location from the heirs.

Currently, the foundation continue to hide how and when the institution came into control of the Painting; the family's possession of the Painting from the mid-1930s; and the reality that the Nazis stole the canvas from the Stern family, forced the couple into selling it via a regime representative, and took the money of the transaction.

Prior Cases

The Stern heirs submitted a comparable case in the state of California in 2022, but it was dismissed in 2024. An appeal was also rejected in May 2025.

Museum's Response

The complaint contends that the museum's acquisition of the painting was sanctioned by the museum's expert, the institution's specialist of European paintings and a renowned specialist on Nazi art looting. Rousseau and the Met must have known that the artwork had probably been seized by the Nazis.

The Met issued a statement that it is committed to its ongoing pledge to address Nazi-era claims.

A representative remarked: Not once during the museum's possession of the piece was there any evidence that it had earlier been possessed to the Stern family – indeed, that information did not become available until a long time after the artwork left the Museum's collection.

The Met's sale of the artwork met the institution's rigorous standards for removal from collection – specifically, it was documented that the artwork was considered to be of lesser quality than additional artworks of the comparable nature in the holdings. Although the institution respectfully stands by its view that this piece entered the collection and was removed legally and well within all rules and regulations, the museum is open to and will review any additional details that is discovered.

BEG's Response

A lawyer representing the Goulandris Foundation stated: The institution is a renowned institution in the Greek capital. The effort to sue and smear the institution and the Goulandris family in the US upon inaccurate and partial claims was already thrown out, multiple times. We are certain it will be a third time.