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The descendants of a Jewish couple have filed a lawsuit against The Met, claiming that a Vincent van Gogh oil painting was stolen by the Third Reich.

Historical Background

According to the legal filing, Hedwig and Frederick Stern purchased the painting, titled Gathering Olives, in 1935. The following year, they were forced to flee their residence in Munich, Germany just before WWII.

The legal action contends that the institution, which obtained the masterpiece in the 1950s for one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars, must have realized it was almost certainly looted property. The descendants are now demanding the return of the canvas along with damages.

Since the end of the war, this plundered piece has been often and discreetly exchanged, purchased and sold in and through New York, claims the legal filing.

The Sterns' Escape

The Stern family escaped from Munich to America in 1936 with their large family due to the oppressive Nazi regime. However, they were prevented from taking the painting, which was painted by the renowned Dutch in 1889.

Before the family's emigration, the Nazi government classified the artwork as property of the state and banned the Sterns from exporting it. Once approved from a Third Reich agent, a trustee assigned by the Nazis sold the artwork on the couple's behalf. Yet, the funds from the sale were deposited in a frozen account, which the Nazis later confiscated.

Subsequent Ownership

By 1948, or shortly after, the painting entered the United States and was acquired by Vincent Astor, a member of the Astor family. Eventually, it was sold through a commercial outlet to the museum, which then passed it on to Greek shipping magnate the magnate and his wife, Mrs. Goulandris, in 1972.

The Greek couple set up the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation in 1979, which operates a museum in the Greek capital where the masterpiece is currently on display.

Claims and Defenses

BEG and a surviving nephew of Goulandris are named as defendants. The lawsuit states that the Goulandris family and its related entities have hidden and obscured the artwork's provenance and location from the heirs.

Even now, the foundation continue to obscure the manner and time the BEG came into ownership 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, coerced the Sterns into parting with it via a regime representative, and confiscated the money of the transaction.

Prior Cases

The Stern heirs submitted a related lawsuit in CA in 2022, but it was rejected in the following years. An legal challenge was also rejected in May 2025.

Museum's Response

The complaint states that the Met's purchase of the piece was sanctioned by Theodore Rousseau Jr, the institution's specialist of Old Masters and a leading authority on Nazi-era looted art. The curator and the museum were aware or ought to have been aware that the Painting had likely been looted by the Nazis.

The museum responded that it takes seriously its longstanding commitment to handle claims from the Nazi period.

A representative remarked: Not once during The Met's ownership of the piece was there any documentation that it had once belonged to the family – in fact, that knowledge did not become accessible until several decades after the artwork left the Museum's collection.

The museum's disposal of the artwork met the museum's strict criteria for deaccessioning – specifically, it was recorded that the piece was deemed to be of inferior standard than other pieces of the comparable nature in the collection. While the museum upholds its stance that this artwork entered the collection and was deaccessioned lawfully and well within all standards and procedures, the Met is open to and will review any new information that emerges.

Goulandris Statement

A lawyer representing the Goulandris Foundation said: The institution is a esteemed foundation in the Greek capital. The action to litigate and defame the Foundation and the family in the US upon deceptive and insufficient accusations was previously dismissed, twice. We are convinced it will be once more.