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The family members of a Jewish spouses have brought a case against The Met, asserting that a the Dutch artist oil painting was looted by the Third Reich.

Case History

As stated in the lawsuit, Hedwig and Frederick Stern bought the piece, titled Olive Picking, in 1935. The following year, they were obliged to escape their residence in the German city of Munich on the eve of WWII.

The complaint contends that the Met, which obtained the masterpiece in 1956 for one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars, must have realized it was almost certainly confiscated property. The family are now demanding the restitution of the painting along with compensation.

Following WWII, this Nazi-looted painting has been frequently and covertly traded, purchased and sold in and through New York, alleges the lawsuit.

The Sterns' Escape

Hedwig and Frederick Stern fled from Munich to California in 1936 with their six children due to the oppressive Nazi regime. However, they were barred from transporting the Van Gogh piece, which was painted by the renowned Dutch in the late 19th century.

Prior to their departure, the regime designated the artwork as a German cultural asset and banned the family from exporting it. After obtaining permission from a Nazi official, a representative appointed by the Nazis sold the painting on the couple's behalf. Yet, the money from the sale were placed in a frozen account, which the regime later took.

Later Transactions

By 1948, or not long after, the painting arrived in NYC and was acquired by a prominent figure, a member of the Astor family. Eventually, it was exchanged through a commercial outlet to the museum, which then passed it on to wealthy Greek businessman the magnate and his partner, Mrs. Goulandris, in 1972.

The Goulandris pair founded the Goulandris Foundation in 1979, which manages a institution in Athens, Greece where the painting is currently shown.

Court Allegations

The foundation and a surviving nephew of the magnate are listed as respondents. The legal action claims that the Goulandris family and its associated organizations have concealed and disguised the painting's ownership and current place from the plaintiffs.

Currently, the defendants continue to obscure how and when the BEG came into control of the artwork; the Stern family's ownership of the Painting from 1935 to 1938; and the reality that the regime looted the canvas from the family, coerced the family into parting with it via a Nazi-appointed agent, and confiscated the proceeds of the deal.

Earlier Lawsuits

The Stern heirs filed a similar complaint in California in recently, but it was rejected in 2024. An legal challenge was also rejected in spring 2025.

Museum's Response

The legal action states that the institution's buying of the artwork was approved by a curator, the institution's specialist of European art and a renowned specialist on Nazi-era looted art. The institution and its expert knew or should have known that the artwork had probably been seized by the regime.

The museum responded that it is committed to its ongoing pledge to handle issues related to WWII.

A representative commented: Never during the museum's possession of the artwork was there any record that it had previously been owned to the family – indeed, that information did not become accessible until a long time after the artwork left the Met's possession.

The museum's disposal of Olive Picking met the institution's rigorous standards for deaccessioning – specifically, it was documented that the piece was considered to be of lower caliber than other works of the similar kind in the collection. Even though the institution maintains its position that this piece entered the collection and was removed properly and well within all rules and regulations, the museum welcomes and will consider any additional details that is discovered.

Goulandris Statement

Legal counsel representing BEG commented: The Goulandris Foundation is a highly prestigious organization in the Greek capital. The action to sue and smear the Foundation and the defendants in the America upon misleadingly incomplete allegations was already thrown out, multiple times. We are confident it will be once more.