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The descendants of a Jewish pair have brought a case against The Metropolitan Museum of Art, claiming that a the Dutch artist canvas was looted by Nazi forces.

Case History

Per the lawsuit, Hedwig and Frederick Stern bought the painting, titled Gathering Olives, in the mid-1930s. The following year, they were forced to flee their dwelling in Munich, Germany prior to the Second World War.

The suit states that the Met, which acquired the painting in 1956 for a significant sum, must have realized it was likely confiscated property. The descendants are now requesting the repatriation of the artwork along with financial restitution.

Following the war, this stolen artwork has been frequently and covertly traded, bought and sold in and through NYC, alleges the lawsuit.

The Sterns' Escape

The Stern family escaped from their Munich home to America in 1936 with their offspring due to persecution by the Nazis. Yet, they were unable to bring the Van Gogh piece, which was painted by the Dutch post-impressionist in 1889.

Before the family's emigration, Nazi authorities classified the artwork as property of the state and forbade the Sterns from exporting it. Once approved from a Third Reich agent, a agent assigned by the authorities sold the artwork on the couple's behalf. But, the money from the transaction were deposited in a frozen account, which the regime later seized.

Subsequent Ownership

By 1948, or not long after, the artwork arrived in New York and was bought by Vincent Astor, a member of the Astor family. Later, it was sold through a commercial outlet to the institution, which then sold it to wealthy Greek businessman Basil Goulandris and his partner, Mrs. Goulandris, in 1972.

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

Legal Arguments

The foundation and a living relative of the magnate are identified in the suit. The lawsuit states that the family and its related entities have covered up the masterpiece's history and location from the family.

Even now, the foundation continue to conceal the manner and time the institution came into control of the artwork; the family's possession of the masterpiece from several years; and the reality that the Third Reich stole the Painting from the family, pressured the Sterns into selling it via a regime representative, and took the money of the sale.

Earlier Lawsuits

The Stern heirs submitted a comparable case in the state of California in 2022, but it was dismissed in the following years. An appeal was also denied in recently.

The Met's Position

The lawsuit argues that the museum's acquisition of the painting was authorized by Theodore Rousseau Jr, the institution's specialist of Old Masters and a leading authority on art theft during the Nazi era. The institution and its expert knew or should have known that the artwork had almost certainly been seized by the Nazis.

The Met said in a statement that it takes seriously its historical dedication to address claims from the Nazi period.

A spokesperson remarked: At no time during The Met's ownership of the painting was there any record that it had once belonged to the Stern family – indeed, that data did not become available until several decades after the painting left the Museum's collection.

The institution's deaccessioning of Olive Picking met the Met's guidelines for removal from collection – in particular, it was noted that the work was judged to be of lower caliber than other works of the similar kind in the collection. Even though the institution maintains its view that this work entered the collection and was sold lawfully and well within all rules and regulations, the museum is open to and will review any further evidence that comes to light.

BEG's Response

A lawyer acting for the foundation said: The institution is a highly prestigious organization in the Greek capital. The attempt to litigate and defame the Foundation and the family in the United States upon deceptive and insufficient accusations was earlier rejected, multiple times. We are convinced it will be again.