🔗 Share this article New York's Met Museum Responds to Legal Action Over Supposedly Nazi-Looted Van Gogh Artwork The family members of a Jewish couple have brought a case against The Met, alleging that a the Dutch artist art piece was stolen by the Third Reich. Origins of the Dispute According to the legal filing, Hedwig and Frederick Stern bought the piece, titled Olive Picking, in 1935. Just one year later, they were compelled to leave their home in the German city of Munich on the eve of the Second World War. The complaint contends that the Met, which purchased 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 seeking the repatriation of the artwork along with financial restitution. Following the war, this stolen artwork has been frequently and covertly traded, acquired and disposed of in and through New York, claims the court document. Forced Emigration The Sterns fled from their Munich home to the United States in the late 1930s with their offspring due to persecution by the Nazis. Nevertheless, they were barred from transporting the Van Gogh piece, which was created by the renowned Dutch in 1889. Before the family's emigration, the regime declared the artwork as German cultural property and forbade the Sterns from taking it abroad. After obtaining permission from a regime representative, a representative appointed by the Nazis auctioned the piece on the family's behalf. Yet, the money from the auction were deposited in a frozen account, which the regime later confiscated. Post-War History Around 1948, or soon after, the canvas was brought to the United States and was bought by a prominent figure, one of America's wealthiest people. Later, it was sold through a gallery to the institution, which then sold it to Greek shipping magnate Basil Goulandris and his wife, Elise Goulandris, in 1972. Basil and Elise set up the Goulandris Foundation in 1979, which operates a museum in Athens, Greece where the masterpiece is currently shown. Legal Arguments The foundation and a living relative of Basil Goulandris are listed as respondents. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants and its associated organizations have covered up the masterpiece's history and current place from the plaintiffs. Currently, the Goulandris Defendants continue to conceal the manner and time the BEG came into ownership of the artwork; the family's possession of the artwork from the mid-1930s; and the facts that the regime confiscated the Painting from the Stern family, pressured the Sterns into selling it via a Nazi-appointed agent, and seized the money of the sale. Prior Cases The Stern heirs submitted a comparable case in California in the year 2022, but it was rejected in the following years. An appeal was also rejected in May 2025. Museum's Response The complaint contends that the museum's acquisition of the painting was sanctioned by a curator, the institution's specialist of Old Masters and one of the world's foremost experts on Nazi art looting. Rousseau and the Met must have known that the Painting had almost certainly been seized by Nazis. The museum issued a statement that it is committed to its ongoing pledge to handle claims from the Nazi period. A representative remarked: Not once during the museum's possession of the piece was there any documentation that it had previously been owned to the family – actually, that information did not become available until a long time after the masterpiece left the institution's holdings. The institution's deaccessioning of Olive Picking met the museum's strict criteria for deaccessioning – specifically, it was documented that the work was judged to be of lower caliber than additional artworks of the comparable nature in the holdings. While The Met maintains its view that this work entered the holdings and was deaccessioned legally and well within all rules and regulations, the Met is open to and will review any further evidence that emerges. Foundation's Defense William Charron on behalf of the Goulandris Foundation commented: BEG is a esteemed foundation in Athens. The action to take legal action against the institution and the Goulandris family in the United States upon deceptive and insufficient accusations was previously dismissed, multiple times. We are convinced it will be again.