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The family members of a Jewish pair have brought a case against The Met, asserting that a Van Gogh art piece was seized by Nazi forces.

Case History

Per the legal filing, the Stern couple bought the piece, titled Olive Harvest, in 1935. A year after, they were obliged to escape their residence in Munich prior to WWII.

The suit contends that the Met, which purchased the artwork in 1956 for a significant sum, should have known it was almost certainly stolen property. The heirs are now demanding the repatriation of the artwork along with damages.

Since the end of the war, this plundered piece has been often and discreetly exchanged, acquired and disposed of in and through New York, states the court document.

Forced Emigration

The Stern family fled from Munich to America in 1936 with their large family due to Nazi persecution. Yet, they were prevented from taking the Van Gogh piece, which was produced by the Dutch post-impressionist in 1889.

Prior to their departure, the regime declared the painting as property of the state and prohibited the Sterns from taking it abroad. Following authorization from a Third Reich agent, a agent designated by the authorities auctioned the piece on the couple's behalf. But, the funds from the auction were placed in a frozen account, which the authorities later confiscated.

Post-War History

By 1948, or soon after, the canvas was brought to NYC and was bought by a prominent figure, a member of the Astor family. Eventually, it was exchanged through a art dealer to the Met, which then transferred it to prominent shipowner the magnate and his spouse, Mrs. Goulandris, in the early 1970s.

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

Claims and Defenses

The foundation and a living relative of Goulandris are identified in the suit. The legal action claims that the defendants and its related entities have covered up the painting's ownership and whereabouts from the heirs.

To this day, the foundation continue to obscure how and when the foundation came into ownership of the artwork; the Stern family's ownership of the artwork from the mid-1930s; and the facts that the Nazis confiscated the Painting from the family, forced the couple into selling it via a Nazi-appointed agent, and confiscated the proceeds of the sale.

Earlier Lawsuits

The Stern heirs submitted a similar complaint in California in 2022, but it was rejected in 2024. An appeal was also dismissed in recently.

Institution's Statement

The complaint states that the Met's purchase of the painting was authorized by a curator, the Met's authority of Old Masters and a leading authority on Nazi art looting. The institution and its expert were aware or ought to have been aware that the masterpiece had probably been looted by Nazis.

The museum issued a statement that it prioritizes its ongoing pledge to handle claims from the Nazi period.

A spokesperson stated: Never during the institution's custody of the artwork was there any record that it had earlier been possessed to the Stern family – in fact, that data did not become known until several decades after the painting left the Museum's collection.

The museum's disposal of the Van Gogh met the institution's rigorous standards for removal from collection – specifically, it was noted that the piece was considered to be of inferior standard than other pieces of the same type in the inventory. Although the museum maintains its position that this artwork entered the holdings and was removed lawfully and well within all rules and regulations, the institution is open to and will review any additional details that comes to light.

Foundation's Defense

A lawyer acting for the foundation commented: The institution is a renowned institution in Greece. The effort to litigate and defame the institution and the family in the United States upon deceptive and insufficient accusations was previously dismissed, twice. We are confident it will be again.