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The heirs of a Jewish spouses have initiated legal proceedings against New York's Metropolitan Museum, alleging that a Van Gogh art piece was looted by the Third Reich.

Origins of the Dispute

Per the court documents, Hedwig and Frederick Stern purchased the painting, titled Olive Harvest, in the year 1935. Just one year later, they were obliged to escape their residence in Munich just before World War II.

The suit argues that the Met, which obtained the painting in the mid-1950s for $125,000, should have known it was likely stolen property. The descendants are now requesting the return of the artwork along with damages.

In the decades since World War II, this stolen artwork has been frequently and covertly traded, acquired and disposed of in and through the city of New York, claims the lawsuit.

The Sterns' Escape

The Stern family fled from the city of Munich to the United States in 1936 with their offspring due to persecution by the Nazis. However, they were barred from transporting the artwork, which was produced by the renowned Dutch in the late 19th century.

Before they left, Nazi authorities declared the artwork as German cultural property and banned the couple from taking it abroad. After obtaining permission from a regime representative, a trustee designated by the Nazis disposed of the artwork on the family's behalf. However, the money from the transaction were held in a frozen account, which the authorities later confiscated.

Later Transactions

By 1948, or shortly after, the painting was brought to 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 institution, which then sold it to wealthy Greek businessman Goulandris and his partner, Elise, in 1972.

Basil and Elise set up the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation in 1979, which runs a institution in the Greek capital where the masterpiece is currently exhibited.

Court Allegations

The institution and a living relative of Goulandris are identified in the suit. The filing states that the family and its related entities have concealed and disguised the painting's ownership and location from the family.

Currently, the foundation continue to conceal the manner and time the foundation came into control of the artwork; the Stern family's ownership of the Painting from the mid-1930s; and the truth that the Third Reich confiscated the canvas from the family, pressured the Sterns into selling it via a Nazi-appointed agent, and took the proceeds of the transaction.

Prior Cases

The family submitted a comparable case in the state of California in 2022, but it was thrown out in 2024. An appeal was also dismissed in spring 2025.

The Met's Position

The lawsuit contends that the Met's purchase of the painting was approved by Theodore Rousseau Jr, the institution's specialist of Old Masters and one of the world's foremost experts on art theft during the Nazi era. Rousseau and the Met were aware or ought to have been aware that the artwork had probably been stolen by the regime.

The museum said in a statement that it prioritizes its longstanding commitment to handle Nazi-era claims.

A spokesperson stated: At no time during the museum's possession of the artwork was there any evidence that it had once belonged to the family – actually, that knowledge did not become known until several decades after the artwork left the Museum's collection.

The institution's deaccessioning of the Van Gogh met the museum's strict criteria for disposal – namely, it was documented that the artwork was deemed to be of inferior standard than other pieces of the comparable nature in the holdings. Although the institution respectfully stands by its stance that this work entered the inventory and was deaccessioned properly and well within all rules and regulations, the Met invites and will examine any additional details that emerges.

Foundation's Defense

Legal counsel on behalf of the Goulandris Foundation said: The Goulandris Foundation is a highly prestigious organization in Athens. The attempt to sue and smear the organization and the Goulandris family in the America upon misleadingly incomplete allegations was already thrown out, multiple times. We are convinced it will be a third time.