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The family members of a Jewish couple have filed a lawsuit against The Met, alleging that a Van Gogh canvas was looted by Nazi forces.

Origins of the Dispute

According to the court documents, the Stern couple purchased the artwork, titled Gathering Olives, in the year 1935. The following year, they were forced to flee their home in the German city of Munich prior to World War II.

The legal action states that the Met, which obtained the artwork in the mid-1950s for a significant sum, ought to have been aware it was probably stolen property. The family are now seeking the restitution of the painting along with compensation.

Since the end of WWII, this plundered piece has been often and discreetly exchanged, acquired and disposed of in and through New York, alleges the legal filing.

Family's Flight

The Stern family departed from the city of Munich to the United States in 1936 with their six children due to Nazi persecution. Nevertheless, they were unable to bring the painting, which was painted by the celebrated artist in 1889.

Before the family's emigration, the Nazi government declared the painting as property of the state and banned the Sterns from exporting it. After obtaining permission from a Third Reich agent, a agent designated by the Nazis auctioned the painting on the couple's behalf. However, the funds from the sale were deposited in a frozen account, which the Nazis later confiscated.

Later Transactions

Around 1948, or not long after, the artwork entered New York and was purchased by Vincent Astor, a member of the Astor family. Subsequently, it was exchanged through a art dealer to the institution, which then passed it on to prominent shipowner Basil Goulandris and his wife, Elise Goulandris, in the early 1970s.

Basil and Elise established the BEG in 1979, which manages a gallery in Athens, Greece where the masterpiece is currently shown.

Legal Arguments

The institution and a surviving nephew of Goulandris are identified in the suit. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants and its related entities have covered up the masterpiece's history and location from the plaintiffs.

Currently, the Goulandris Defendants continue to obscure the manner and time the foundation came into possession of the piece; the Stern family's ownership of the Painting from 1935 to 1938; and the facts that the regime stole the artwork from the family, coerced the Sterns into parting with it via a Nazi-appointed agent, and confiscated the proceeds of the transaction.

Earlier Lawsuits

The family submitted a related lawsuit in the state of California in recently, but it was dismissed in 2024. An further action was also denied in recently.

The Met's Position

The legal action contends that the Met's purchase of the painting was sanctioned by Theodore Rousseau Jr, the Met's authority of European art and one of the world's foremost experts on Nazi art looting. The institution and its expert were aware or ought to have been aware that the Painting had probably been looted by the regime.

The Met said in a statement that it takes seriously its longstanding commitment to resolve claims from the Nazi period.

A spokesperson stated: Not once during the museum's possession of the piece was there any documentation that it had earlier been possessed to the family – actually, that knowledge did not become accessible until a long time after the masterpiece left the Museum's collection.

The Met's sale of the artwork met the Met's guidelines for removal from collection – specifically, it was recorded that the piece was considered to be of inferior standard than other pieces of the comparable nature in the inventory. Even though The Met upholds its view that this piece entered the holdings and was deaccessioned properly and well within all standards and procedures, the museum invites and will examine any further evidence that comes to light.

Goulandris Statement

Legal counsel representing BEG stated: The Goulandris Foundation is a highly prestigious organization in Greece. The attempt to take legal action against the institution and the family in the US upon inaccurate and partial claims was previously dismissed, multiple times. We are certain it will be a third time.