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The family members of a Jewish pair have initiated legal proceedings against New York's Metropolitan Museum, claiming that a Vincent van Gogh art piece was stolen by the Nazis.

Historical Background

As stated in the lawsuit, Hedwig and Frederick Stern purchased the piece, titled Gathering Olives, in the year 1935. A year after, they were obliged to escape their residence in Munich, Germany prior to World War II.

The legal action contends that the museum, which purchased the artwork in the mid-1950s for $125,000, ought to have been aware it was probably confiscated property. The descendants are now seeking the repatriation of the artwork along with financial restitution.

Following World War II, this Nazi-looted painting has been often and discreetly exchanged, bought and sold in and through NYC, alleges the lawsuit.

Forced Emigration

The Sterns escaped from the city of Munich to California in the late 1930s with their six children due to Nazi persecution. Yet, they were prevented from taking the Van Gogh piece, which was created by the renowned Dutch in 1889.

Prior to their departure, the regime classified the masterpiece as German cultural property and banned the Sterns from exporting it. After obtaining permission from a regime representative, a trustee assigned by the Nazis sold the artwork on the Sterns' behalf. Yet, the proceeds from the transaction were deposited in a frozen account, which the Nazis later seized.

Subsequent Ownership

Around 1948, or shortly after, the artwork arrived in NYC and was acquired by a wealthy American, one of America's wealthiest people. Subsequently, it was sold through a gallery to the Met, which then passed it on to Greek shipping magnate Goulandris and his partner, Elise Goulandris, in the early 1970s.

The Goulandris pair set up the Goulandris Foundation in the late 1970s, which runs a gallery in Athens where the artwork is currently exhibited.

Court Allegations

BEG and a family member of the magnate are named as defendants. The legal action states that the family and its associated organizations have concealed and disguised the painting's ownership and current place from the plaintiffs.

Even now, the defendants continue to conceal the circumstances the BEG came into control of the Painting; the couple's ownership of the masterpiece from the mid-1930s; and the facts that the Third Reich confiscated the canvas from the Stern family, pressured the couple into disposing of it via a regime representative, and took the funds of the sale.

Prior Cases

The Stern heirs filed a comparable case in California in the year 2022, but it was dismissed in 2024. An legal challenge was also denied in recently.

Museum's Response

The legal action argues that the institution's buying of the piece was approved by Theodore Rousseau Jr, the institution's specialist of European art and a leading authority on Nazi-era looted art. Rousseau and the Met must have known that the masterpiece had almost certainly been seized by Nazis.

The Met issued a statement that it takes seriously its longstanding commitment to address issues related to WWII.

An official commented: Not once during The Met's ownership of the piece was there any documentation that it had earlier been possessed to the heirs – indeed, that knowledge did not become accessible until several decades after the artwork left the institution's holdings.

The museum's disposal of the artwork met the museum's strict criteria for removal from collection – specifically, it was noted that the piece was judged to be of lesser quality than other pieces of the comparable nature in the collection. Although the institution respectfully stands by its view that this work entered the inventory and was sold legally and well within all rules and regulations, the Met welcomes and will consider any additional details that is discovered.

BEG's Response

William Charron acting for BEG stated: BEG is a esteemed foundation in the Greek capital. The action to sue and smear the organization and the defendants in the America upon misleadingly incomplete allegations was earlier rejected, multiple times. We are certain it will be again.