🔗 Share this article

The descendants of a Jewish pair have brought a case against New York's Metropolitan Museum, claiming that a Van Gogh canvas was looted by the Nazis.

Case History

According to the lawsuit, the Stern couple acquired the painting, titled Gathering Olives, in the year 1935. Just one year later, they were forced to flee their residence in the German city of Munich prior to World War II.

The legal action states that the Met, which acquired the artwork in the mid-1950s for one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars, must have realized it was almost certainly looted property. The heirs are now demanding the repatriation of the painting along with financial restitution.

Following the war, this plundered piece has been frequently and covertly traded, bought and sold in and through the city of New York, claims the lawsuit.

The Sterns' Escape

The Sterns departed from the city of Munich to America in the late 1930s with their offspring due to Nazi persecution. Yet, they were unable to bring the artwork, which was produced by the Dutch post-impressionist in the late 19th century.

Before the family's emigration, the regime declared the masterpiece as a German cultural asset and banned the family from bringing it with them. Following authorization from a regime representative, a trustee appointed by the Nazis auctioned the artwork on the couple's behalf. Yet, the proceeds from the auction were held in a restricted account, which the Nazis later took.

Later Transactions

By 1948, or soon after, the canvas was brought to NYC and was acquired by Vincent Astor, one of America's wealthiest people. Eventually, it was transferred through a gallery to the institution, which then transferred it to Greek shipping magnate the magnate and his wife, Mrs. Goulandris, in 1972.

The Goulandris pair established the Goulandris Foundation in 1979, which operates a gallery in Athens, Greece where the artwork is currently shown.

Court Allegations

BEG and a surviving nephew of Goulandris are identified in the suit. The legal action claims that the defendants and its associated organizations have hidden and obscured the painting's ownership and current place from the family.

Currently, the Goulandris Defendants continue to conceal the manner and time the institution came into ownership of the Painting; the Stern family's ownership of the artwork from the mid-1930s; and the truth that the Nazis stole the Painting from the family, pressured the family into selling it via a regime representative, and seized the money of the transaction.

Earlier Lawsuits

The Stern heirs filed a comparable case in California in recently, but it was thrown out in 2024. An appeal was also dismissed in spring 2025.

Museum's Response

The complaint states that the Met's purchase of the artwork was sanctioned by a curator, the institution's specialist of Old Masters and a renowned specialist on art theft during the Nazi era. Rousseau and the Met knew or should have known that the Painting had almost certainly been seized by Nazis.

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

An official stated: At no time during The Met's ownership of the artwork was there any evidence that it had previously been owned to the family – in fact, that data did not become available until many years after the masterpiece left the institution's holdings.

The museum's disposal of the artwork met the museum's strict criteria for disposal – specifically, it was recorded that the artwork was considered to be of lower caliber than other pieces of the similar kind in the holdings. While the museum upholds its view that this artwork entered the inventory and was removed lawfully and well within all rules and regulations, the institution invites and will examine any new information that comes to light.

Goulandris Statement

Legal counsel representing BEG commented: BEG is a highly prestigious organization in Athens. The action to take legal action against the institution and the defendants in the US upon deceptive and insufficient accusations was previously dismissed, on two occasions. We are certain it will be once more.