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The descendants of a Jewish pair have brought a case against New York's Metropolitan Museum, claiming that a the Dutch artist oil painting was looted by the Nazis.

Case History

According to the lawsuit, the Stern couple bought the painting, titled Olive Harvest, in the mid-1930s. The following year, they were compelled to leave their dwelling in the German city of Munich on the eve of World War II.

The complaint argues that the museum, which acquired the painting in the 1950s for $125,000, should have known it was almost certainly looted property. The heirs are now demanding the repatriation of the canvas along with damages.

Since the end of World War II, this stolen artwork has been frequently and covertly traded, acquired and disposed of in and through New York, states the court document.

The Sterns' Escape

The Stern family departed from the city of Munich to California in 1936 with their six children due to persecution by the Nazis. Nevertheless, they were prevented from taking the Van Gogh piece, which was created by the Dutch post-impressionist in 1889.

Before the family's emigration, Nazi authorities designated the masterpiece as a German cultural asset and prohibited the Sterns from exporting it. Following authorization from a regime representative, a trustee designated by the regime disposed of the piece on the couple's behalf. But, the proceeds from the auction were placed in a frozen account, which the Nazis later confiscated.

Post-War History

By 1948, or soon after, the painting was brought to New York and was bought by a wealthy American, one of America's wealthiest people. Later, it was exchanged through a commercial outlet to the institution, which then transferred it to Greek shipping magnate the magnate and his partner, Elise Goulandris, in the early 1970s.

Basil and Elise established the BEG in the late 1970s, which runs a gallery in the Greek capital where the masterpiece is currently shown.

Legal Arguments

The foundation and a surviving nephew of Goulandris are identified in the suit. The filing states that the Goulandris family and its associated organizations have covered up the artwork's provenance and whereabouts from the plaintiffs.

Currently, the defendants continue to conceal how and when the foundation came into ownership of the artwork; the family's possession of the Painting from several years; and the facts that the Nazis looted the artwork from the Stern family, pressured the couple into disposing of it via a regime representative, and seized the funds of the transaction.

Prior Cases

The Stern heirs submitted a related lawsuit in California in the year 2022, but it was rejected in 2024. An further action was also dismissed in spring 2025.

Museum's Response

The complaint argues that the museum's acquisition of the artwork was sanctioned by a curator, the museum's curator of Old Masters and a renowned specialist on Nazi art looting. The institution and its expert must have known that the masterpiece had likely been looted by the Nazis.

The museum issued a statement that it is committed to its historical dedication to handle Nazi-era claims.

An official stated: Not once during the institution's custody of the painting was there any record that it had previously been owned to the Stern family – in fact, that data did not become accessible until a long time after the painting left the Museum's collection.

The institution's deaccessioning of the artwork met the Met's guidelines for disposal – namely, it was documented that the artwork was deemed to be of inferior standard than additional artworks of the same type in the inventory. Although the institution respectfully stands by its stance that this work entered the holdings and was deaccessioned properly and well within all standards and procedures, the Met welcomes and will consider any new information that is discovered.

Goulandris Statement

Legal counsel representing the foundation stated: BEG is a highly prestigious organization in the Greek capital. The action to take legal action against the institution and the Goulandris family in the US upon misleadingly incomplete allegations was previously dismissed, multiple times. We are certain it will be once more.