Metropolitan Museum Confronts Legal Challenge Over Reportedly Nazi-Looted Van Gogh Artwork

The descendants of a Jewish spouses have initiated legal proceedings against The Metropolitan Museum of Art, claiming that a Van Gogh canvas was seized by the Nazis.

Case History

Per the lawsuit, Frederick and Hedwig Stern acquired the artwork, titled Gathering Olives, in 1935. Just one year later, they were forced to flee their home in Munich just before the Second World War.

The legal action states that the Met, which purchased the artwork in the 1950s for $125,000, should have known it was almost certainly looted property. The descendants are now seeking the return of the painting along with financial restitution.

Following the war, this stolen artwork has been repeatedly and secretly trafficked, bought and sold in and through the city of New York, claims the legal filing.

Family's Flight

Hedwig and Frederick Stern escaped from Munich to California in the late 1930s with their large family due to persecution by the Nazis. Yet, they were unable to bring the Van Gogh piece, which was produced by the renowned Dutch in 1889.

Before the family's emigration, Nazi authorities declared the artwork as property of the state and banned the couple from taking it abroad. After obtaining permission from a regime representative, a agent assigned by the Nazis auctioned the artwork on the Sterns' behalf. But, the funds from the transaction were deposited in a frozen account, which the Nazis later took.

Subsequent Ownership

In 1948, or not long after, the artwork entered New York and was acquired by Vincent Astor, among the richest individuals in the US. Later, it was transferred through a commercial outlet to the Met, which then passed it on to Greek shipping magnate Basil Goulandris and his wife, Elise Goulandris, in the early 1970s.

The Greek couple founded the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation in 1979, which manages a gallery in Athens, Greece where the painting is currently shown.

Claims and Defenses

The foundation and a family member of Basil Goulandris are identified in the suit. The lawsuit claims that the Goulandris family and its affiliates have covered up the painting's ownership and current place from the family.

Currently, the defendants continue to hide the manner and time the foundation came into possession of the piece; the couple's ownership of the artwork from 1935 to 1938; and the reality that the Nazis looted the canvas from the heirs, forced the Sterns into parting with it via a trustee, and took the funds of the sale.

Previous Legal Action

The descendants initiated a related lawsuit in California in recently, but it was dismissed in the following years. An legal challenge was also dismissed in spring 2025.

Museum's Response

The legal action argues that the Met's purchase of the artwork was authorized by Theodore Rousseau Jr, the Met's authority of European art and a leading authority on Nazi-era looted art. Rousseau and the Met were aware or ought to have been aware that the artwork had probably been stolen by the regime.

The institution responded that it is committed to its longstanding commitment to resolve claims from the Nazi period.

A spokesperson remarked: At no time during the museum's possession of the painting was there any documentation that it had once belonged to the heirs – indeed, that data did not become known until several decades after the artwork left the Met's possession.

The Met's sale of the Van Gogh met the Met's guidelines for disposal – in particular, it was documented that the piece was considered to be of lower caliber than additional artworks of the similar kind in the inventory. While The Met maintains its view that this work entered the collection and was removed lawfully and well within all guidelines and policies, the museum welcomes and will consider any new information that is discovered.

BEG's Response

A lawyer on behalf of BEG said: BEG is a highly prestigious organization in Greece. The effort to take legal action against the organization and the defendants in the America upon deceptive and insufficient accusations was previously dismissed, multiple times. We are certain it will be a third time.