🔗 Share this article

The family members of a Jewish pair have brought a case against New York's Metropolitan Museum, asserting that a Vincent van Gogh canvas was seized by the Third Reich.

Origins of the Dispute

Per the legal filing, Frederick and Hedwig Stern purchased the piece, titled Olive Picking, in the year 1935. The following year, they were forced to flee their dwelling in Munich, Germany just before the Second World War.

The legal action states that the museum, which purchased the painting in 1956 for $125,000, must have realized it was probably stolen property. The descendants are now requesting the return of the canvas along with compensation.

Following World War II, this plundered piece has been often and discreetly exchanged, acquired and disposed of in and through New York, alleges the court document.

The Sterns' Escape

The Stern family departed from their Munich home to the United States in 1936 with their six children due to Nazi persecution. However, they were prevented from taking the artwork, which was produced by the Dutch post-impressionist in the late 19th century.

Before they left, the Nazi government classified the artwork as property of the state and prohibited the family from exporting it. Following authorization from a Nazi official, a representative assigned by the authorities disposed of the painting on the Sterns' behalf. But, the funds from the auction were placed in a restricted account, which the authorities later seized.

Subsequent Ownership

By 1948, or shortly after, the painting was brought to NYC and was bought by a wealthy American, one of America's wealthiest people. Subsequently, it was exchanged through a commercial outlet to the museum, which then transferred it to prominent shipowner Basil Goulandris and his wife, Elise, in the early 1970s.

The Greek couple set up the Goulandris Foundation in the late 1970s, which runs a museum in the Greek capital where the artwork is currently exhibited.

Claims and Defenses

The institution and a living relative of Goulandris are named as defendants. The filing claims that the Goulandris family and its affiliates have covered up the artwork's provenance and current place from the heirs.

Currently, the foundation continue to obscure how and when the foundation came into ownership of the Painting; the Stern family's ownership of the masterpiece from several years; and the reality that the regime confiscated the Painting from the heirs, coerced the Sterns into disposing of it via a Nazi-appointed agent, and confiscated the proceeds of the sale.

Previous Legal Action

The descendants filed a similar complaint in the state of California in 2022, but it was rejected in 2024. An further action was also rejected in recently.

Museum's Response

The lawsuit contends that the museum's acquisition of the painting was sanctioned by Theodore Rousseau Jr, the museum's curator of Old Masters and a leading authority on Nazi art looting. The curator and the museum knew or should have known that the Painting had almost certainly been looted by the Nazis.

The Met responded that it prioritizes its longstanding commitment to handle claims from the Nazi period.

A representative remarked: At no time during the institution's custody of the piece was there any record that it had once belonged to the Stern family – actually, that data did not become available until several decades after the artwork left the Museum's collection.

The museum's disposal of the artwork met the institution's rigorous standards for removal from collection – in particular, it was noted that the work was judged to be of lesser quality than other works of the similar kind in the inventory. While the museum upholds its view that this artwork entered the holdings and was deaccessioned properly and well within all guidelines and policies, the museum invites and will examine any additional details that is discovered.

Goulandris Statement

A lawyer acting for the foundation said: The Goulandris Foundation is a highly prestigious organization in Athens. The action to take legal action against the Foundation and the Goulandris family in the US upon deceptive and insufficient accusations was already thrown out, twice. We are confident it will be once more.