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The heirs of a Jewish spouses have filed a lawsuit against New York's Metropolitan Museum, claiming that a Vincent van Gogh canvas was stolen by the Third Reich.

Case History

As stated in the court documents, Frederick and Hedwig Stern purchased the piece, titled Olive Harvest, in the mid-1930s. Just one year later, they were obliged to escape their residence in Munich, Germany prior to World War II.

The suit states that the Met, which acquired the masterpiece in the 1950s for a significant sum, must have realized it was likely confiscated property. The family are now demanding the return of the artwork along with compensation.

Since the end of WWII, this stolen artwork has been often and discreetly exchanged, acquired and disposed of in and through NYC, claims the legal filing.

Family's Flight

The Sterns departed from their Munich home to the United States in 1936 with their large family due to persecution by the Nazis. Yet, they were prevented from taking the Van Gogh piece, which was produced by the Dutch post-impressionist in 1889.

Prior to their departure, the Nazi government designated the painting as a German cultural asset and forbade the couple from exporting it. Once approved from a Third Reich agent, a representative appointed by the regime sold the artwork on the couple's behalf. But, the funds from the transaction were placed in a restricted account, which the authorities later took.

Post-War History

Around 1948, or not long after, the canvas arrived in New York and was purchased by Vincent Astor, one of America's wealthiest people. Later, it was transferred through a art dealer to the museum, which then sold it to prominent shipowner Basil Goulandris and his wife, Elise, in 1972.

Basil and Elise established the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation in the late 1970s, which operates a museum in Athens where the artwork is currently exhibited.

Court Allegations

BEG and a living relative of the magnate are named as defendants. The lawsuit states that the Goulandris family and its related entities have concealed and disguised the masterpiece's history and whereabouts from the plaintiffs.

Currently, the defendants continue to hide the manner and time the institution came into control of the Painting; the family's possession of the masterpiece from 1935 to 1938; and the reality that the regime confiscated the canvas from the family, coerced the family into disposing of it via a Nazi-appointed agent, and took the money of the transaction.

Prior Cases

The Stern heirs submitted a comparable case in the state of California in 2022, but it was dismissed in 2024. An further action was also rejected in May 2025.

Museum's Response

The legal action states that the museum's acquisition of the piece was sanctioned by the museum's expert, the Met's authority of European art and one of the world's foremost experts on art theft during the Nazi era. The curator and the museum knew or should have known that the Painting had likely been seized by Nazis.

The Met responded that it is committed to its longstanding commitment to handle claims from the Nazi period.

An official remarked: At no time during the museum's possession of the artwork was there any evidence that it had previously been owned to the Stern family – indeed, that information did not become accessible until several decades after the artwork left the Museum's collection.

The museum's disposal of the Van Gogh met the institution's rigorous standards for removal from collection – in particular, it was recorded that the work was deemed to be of lower caliber than additional artworks of the same type in the collection. While the institution maintains its position that this work entered the inventory and was deaccessioned properly and well within all guidelines and policies, the institution is open to and will review any further evidence that comes to light.

Foundation's Defense

A lawyer on behalf of BEG stated: The Goulandris Foundation is a esteemed foundation in Greece. The attempt to take legal action against the Foundation and the defendants in the United States upon deceptive and insufficient accusations was earlier rejected, on two occasions. We are convinced it will be again.