🔗 Share this article

The descendants of a Jewish couple have filed a lawsuit against The Met, alleging that a Vincent van Gogh art piece was looted by the Nazis.

Case History

According to the legal filing, Hedwig and Frederick Stern acquired the painting, titled Olive Harvest, in 1935. The following year, they were obliged to escape their home in the German city of Munich prior to the Second World War.

The suit states that the Met, which obtained the masterpiece in 1956 for a significant sum, must have realized it was almost certainly looted property. The descendants are now requesting the restitution of the painting along with financial restitution.

In the decades since the war, this stolen artwork has been often and discreetly exchanged, bought and sold in and through the city of New York, claims the legal filing.

The Sterns' Escape

The Sterns departed from the city of Munich to California in 1936 with their large family due to the oppressive Nazi regime. Yet, they were prevented from taking the Van Gogh piece, which was created by the renowned Dutch in the late 19th century.

Before the family's emigration, the regime designated the painting as German cultural property and banned the family from taking it abroad. Following authorization from a regime representative, a agent assigned by the authorities sold the piece on the couple's behalf. Yet, the funds from the sale were deposited in a frozen account, which the authorities later seized.

Post-War History

Around 1948, or soon after, the artwork arrived in the United States and was bought by a prominent figure, a member of the Astor family. Eventually, it was transferred through a commercial outlet to the museum, which then transferred it to Greek shipping magnate the magnate and his partner, Mrs. Goulandris, in the early 1970s.

The Goulandris pair set up the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation in the late 1970s, which runs a institution in Athens, Greece where the masterpiece is currently on display.

Claims and Defenses

The foundation and a living relative of the magnate are named as defendants. The legal action states that the defendants and its related entities have concealed and disguised the masterpiece's history and location from the plaintiffs.

Currently, the Goulandris Defendants continue to conceal how and when the institution came into ownership of the piece; the family's possession of the Painting from several years; and the truth that the Third Reich confiscated the Painting from the heirs, pressured the family into disposing of it via a regime representative, and confiscated the proceeds of the deal.

Previous Legal Action

The family submitted a related lawsuit in the state of California in 2022, but it was thrown out in the following years. An further action was also denied in recently.

Institution's Statement

The lawsuit states that the institution's buying of the painting was authorized by a curator, the Met's authority of European paintings and one of the world's foremost experts on art theft during the Nazi era. The institution and its expert must have known that the Painting had likely been seized by Nazis.

The Met responded that it prioritizes its historical dedication to resolve Nazi-era claims.

A representative remarked: Never during The Met's ownership of the artwork was there any documentation that it had once belonged to the family – in fact, that knowledge did not become available until several decades after the painting left the Met's possession.

The institution's deaccessioning of Olive Picking met the institution's rigorous standards for deaccessioning – specifically, it was documented that the piece was judged to be of lesser quality than additional artworks of the same type in the inventory. While the museum upholds its view that this artwork entered the collection and was removed lawfully and well within all standards and procedures, the museum is open to and will review any further evidence that emerges.

BEG's Response

A lawyer representing the foundation said: The Goulandris Foundation is a highly prestigious organization in Greece. The effort to take legal action against the institution and the Goulandris family in the United States upon deceptive and insufficient accusations was earlier rejected, on two occasions. We are convinced it will be a third time.