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The descendants of a Jewish spouses have filed a lawsuit against The Metropolitan Museum of Art, asserting that a Vincent van Gogh oil painting was stolen by the Nazis.

Origins of the Dispute

According to the lawsuit, Hedwig and Frederick Stern purchased the painting, titled Olive Picking, in the mid-1930s. Just one year later, they were forced to flee their dwelling in the German city of Munich prior to WWII.

The suit contends that the institution, which obtained the masterpiece in the mid-1950s for a significant sum, ought to have been aware it was almost certainly confiscated property. The descendants are now requesting the repatriation of the painting along with compensation.

Since the end of the war, this stolen artwork has been often and discreetly exchanged, acquired and disposed of in and through the city of New York, claims the court document.

The Sterns' Escape

Hedwig and Frederick Stern departed from the city of Munich to America in the late 1930s with their large family due to Nazi persecution. Nevertheless, they were unable to bring the painting, which was created by the renowned Dutch in 1889.

Before they left, Nazi authorities classified the artwork as a German cultural asset and banned the family from taking it abroad. Once approved from a Nazi official, a agent assigned by the authorities sold the piece on the Sterns' behalf. However, the proceeds from the transaction were held in a blocked account, which the regime later confiscated.

Later Transactions

In 1948, or soon after, the canvas was brought to NYC and was acquired by Vincent Astor, one of America's wealthiest people. Later, it was exchanged through a commercial outlet to the museum, which then transferred it to wealthy Greek businessman the magnate and his wife, Mrs. Goulandris, in 1972.

Basil and Elise set up the Goulandris Foundation in 1979, which runs a museum in Athens where the masterpiece is currently shown.

Claims and Defenses

The institution and a family member of Goulandris are identified in the suit. The filing claims that the family and its affiliates have covered up the painting's ownership and whereabouts from the family.

Even now, the foundation continue to hide the circumstances the BEG came into ownership of the Painting; the family's possession of the masterpiece from 1935 to 1938; and the facts that the regime confiscated the canvas from the Stern family, forced the couple into selling it via a regime representative, and took the proceeds of the deal.

Previous Legal Action

The Stern heirs submitted a similar complaint in CA in the year 2022, but it was rejected in 2024. An appeal was also dismissed in spring 2025.

Institution's Statement

The lawsuit states that the Met's purchase of the piece was approved by Theodore Rousseau Jr, the museum's curator of European paintings and a renowned specialist on art theft during the Nazi era. The institution and its expert must have known that the artwork had likely been stolen by the Nazis.

The museum said in a statement that it takes seriously its ongoing pledge to handle Nazi-era claims.

A representative remarked: Never during the museum's possession of the painting was there any documentation that it had earlier been possessed to the family – indeed, that knowledge did not become available until a long time after the masterpiece left the institution's holdings.

The Met's sale of the Van Gogh met the Met's guidelines for removal from collection – in particular, it was noted that the work was deemed to be of lower caliber than additional artworks of the similar kind in the collection. Although the institution maintains its position that this work entered the collection and was sold legally and well within all standards and procedures, the institution invites and will examine any further evidence that comes to light.

Goulandris Statement

A lawyer on behalf of the foundation stated: BEG is a renowned institution in Greece. The action to litigate and defame the institution and the defendants in the United States upon misleadingly incomplete allegations was previously dismissed, twice. We are certain it will be again.