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The descendants of a Jewish couple have filed a lawsuit against The Met, alleging that a Vincent van Gogh art piece was looted by the Nazis.

Origins of the Dispute

According to the lawsuit, the Stern couple bought the painting, titled Gathering Olives, in the mid-1930s. The following year, they were compelled to leave their dwelling in Munich just before the Second World War.

The legal action argues that the Met, which obtained the artwork in the mid-1950s for $125,000, must have realized it was likely looted property. The family are now demanding the restitution of the canvas along with damages.

In the decades since the war, this Nazi-looted painting has been often and discreetly exchanged, bought and sold in and through the city of New York, alleges the lawsuit.

Forced Emigration

Hedwig and Frederick Stern escaped from Munich to the United States in 1936 with their large family due to the oppressive Nazi regime. However, they were unable to bring the artwork, which was created by the Dutch post-impressionist in 1889.

Before they left, Nazi authorities declared the artwork as a German cultural asset and prohibited the family from bringing it with them. Following authorization from a Third Reich agent, a agent appointed by the Nazis disposed of the artwork on the family's behalf. However, the money from the sale were held in a frozen account, which the regime later confiscated.

Subsequent Ownership

By 1948, or soon after, the artwork was brought to NYC and was bought by a prominent figure, among the richest individuals in the US. Eventually, it was sold through a art dealer to the Met, which then transferred it to wealthy Greek businessman Basil Goulandris and his wife, Mrs. Goulandris, in 1972.

Basil and Elise set up the BEG in 1979, which operates a museum in Athens, Greece where the painting is currently on display.

Legal Arguments

The foundation and a family member of Goulandris are named as defendants. The lawsuit alleges that the family and its affiliates have hidden and obscured the artwork's provenance and current place from the plaintiffs.

To this day, the Goulandris Defendants continue to obscure the manner and time the institution came into ownership of the piece; the couple's ownership of the Painting from 1935 to 1938; and the reality that the regime stole the canvas from the family, coerced the Sterns into selling it via a trustee, and took the proceeds of the deal.

Prior Cases

The Stern heirs submitted a comparable case in CA in the year 2022, but it was dismissed in the following years. An appeal was also dismissed in recently.

The Met's Position

The legal action states that the institution's buying of the piece was approved by a curator, the Met's authority of European art and one of the world's foremost experts 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 Met said in a statement that it prioritizes its longstanding commitment to handle Nazi-era claims.

An official commented: At no time during the museum's possession of the artwork was there any documentation that it had once belonged to the Stern family – in fact, that knowledge did not become accessible until a long time after the artwork left the Museum's collection.

The Met's sale of the Van Gogh met the museum's strict criteria for disposal – specifically, it was noted that the piece was judged to be of inferior standard than other pieces of the same type in the collection. While The Met upholds its view that this piece entered the holdings and was sold legally and well within all rules and regulations, the institution welcomes and will consider any further evidence that is discovered.

Goulandris Statement

William Charron on behalf of the Goulandris Foundation commented: The Goulandris Foundation is a renowned institution in the Greek capital. The action to sue and smear the organization and the defendants in the America upon deceptive and insufficient accusations was previously dismissed, twice. We are confident it will be again.