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The family members of a Jewish pair have filed a lawsuit against The Metropolitan Museum of Art, alleging that a Vincent van Gogh oil painting was looted by the Nazis.

Historical Background

Per the court documents, Hedwig and Frederick Stern purchased the artwork, titled Gathering Olives, in the mid-1930s. The following year, they were obliged to escape their residence in Munich, Germany prior to the Second World War.

The suit states that the institution, which purchased the artwork in 1956 for a significant sum, must have realized it was probably stolen property. The heirs are now seeking the return of the canvas along with financial restitution.

In the decades since the war, this stolen artwork has been repeatedly and secretly trafficked, acquired and disposed of in and through New York, claims the legal filing.

The Sterns' Escape

Hedwig and Frederick Stern fled from Munich to California in the late 1930s with their large family due to persecution by the Nazis. Nevertheless, they were unable to bring the painting, which was painted by the Dutch post-impressionist in the late 19th century.

Before they left, the regime classified the masterpiece as property of the state and banned the family from bringing it with them. After obtaining permission from a regime representative, a agent appointed by the regime auctioned the piece on the family's behalf. However, the money from the auction were held in a restricted account, which the authorities later confiscated.

Post-War History

In 1948, or not long after, the artwork entered NYC and was acquired by Vincent Astor, one of America's wealthiest people. Subsequently, it was transferred through a gallery to the Met, which then sold it to prominent shipowner the magnate and his spouse, Elise Goulandris, in the early 1970s.

Basil and Elise established the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation in 1979, which runs a gallery in Athens, Greece where the masterpiece is currently exhibited.

Court Allegations

BEG and a living relative of the magnate are identified in the suit. The lawsuit alleges that the family and its affiliates have hidden and obscured the artwork's provenance and location from the family.

To this day, the Goulandris Defendants continue to conceal the manner and time the BEG came into ownership of the Painting; the family's possession of the Painting from the mid-1930s; and the truth that the Third Reich stole the artwork from the family, forced the Sterns into disposing of it via a Nazi-appointed agent, and confiscated the money of the sale.

Earlier Lawsuits

The Stern heirs initiated a comparable case in CA in the year 2022, but it was rejected in 2024. An legal challenge was also rejected in spring 2025.

Institution's Statement

The legal action contends that the institution's buying of the artwork was sanctioned by a curator, the institution's specialist of European paintings and one of the world's foremost experts on Nazi-era looted art. The institution and its expert knew or should have known that the Painting had almost certainly been stolen by the Nazis.

The institution issued a statement that it takes seriously its ongoing pledge to address claims from the Nazi period.

An official stated: Never during the museum's possession of the piece was there any evidence that it had earlier been possessed to the Stern family – actually, that knowledge did not become known until a long time after the painting left the Met's possession.

The institution's deaccessioning of Olive Picking met the Met's guidelines for deaccessioning – specifically, it was noted that the artwork was considered to be of inferior standard than other pieces of the same type in the holdings. Even though the institution maintains its stance that this piece entered the collection and was deaccessioned lawfully and well within all rules and regulations, the institution welcomes and will consider any further evidence that emerges.

Foundation's Defense

A lawyer representing the foundation stated: BEG is a highly prestigious organization in Athens. The attempt to take legal action against the organization and the defendants in the US upon misleadingly incomplete allegations was earlier rejected, on two occasions. We are convinced it will be again.