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The family members of a Jewish pair have filed a lawsuit against The Metropolitan Museum of Art, asserting that a the Dutch artist oil painting was looted by Nazi forces.

Origins of the Dispute

According to the legal filing, Frederick and Hedwig Stern bought the artwork, titled Olive Harvest, in the year 1935. A year after, they were forced to flee their home in the German city of Munich prior to World War II.

The legal action contends that the institution, which acquired the painting in 1956 for a significant sum, must have realized it was probably stolen property. The descendants are now seeking the repatriation of the artwork along with financial restitution.

Following World War II, this Nazi-looted painting has been often and discreetly exchanged, acquired and disposed of in and through the city of New York, states the legal filing.

Forced Emigration

The Sterns fled from Munich to America in 1936 with their offspring due to the oppressive Nazi regime. However, they were prevented from taking the Van Gogh piece, which was painted by the renowned Dutch in the late 19th century.

Before they left, Nazi authorities classified the masterpiece as property of the state and forbade the Sterns from taking it abroad. Once approved from a regime representative, a trustee designated by the authorities sold the artwork on the Sterns' behalf. Yet, the proceeds from the sale were held in a frozen account, which the authorities later confiscated.

Later Transactions

Around 1948, or shortly after, the painting entered New York and was acquired by Vincent Astor, among the richest individuals in the US. Later, it was exchanged through a art dealer to the museum, which then passed it on to prominent shipowner Goulandris and his wife, Elise, in the early 1970s.

The Greek couple founded the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation in 1979, which operates a gallery in Athens where the painting is currently shown.

Legal Arguments

The institution and a living relative of Basil Goulandris are identified in the suit. The filing claims that the family and its associated organizations have concealed and disguised the painting's ownership and current place from the family.

Even now, the defendants continue to conceal the manner and time the foundation came into possession of the piece; the couple's ownership of the masterpiece from several years; and the reality that the regime looted the artwork from the heirs, pressured the Sterns into disposing of it via a Nazi-appointed agent, and seized the proceeds of the deal.

Previous Legal Action

The Stern heirs submitted a similar complaint in California in 2022, but it was rejected in the following years. An appeal was also dismissed in May 2025.

Institution's Statement

The complaint argues that the museum's acquisition of the artwork was sanctioned by the museum's expert, the museum's curator of Old Masters and one of the world's foremost experts on Nazi-era looted art. The curator and the museum must have known that the masterpiece had almost certainly been looted by Nazis.

The Met said in a statement that it prioritizes its ongoing pledge to handle Nazi-era claims.

An official stated: Never during the institution's custody of the painting was there any evidence that it had earlier been possessed to the heirs – in fact, that information did not become known until several decades after the painting left the Museum's collection.

The institution's deaccessioning of the artwork met the Met's guidelines for removal from collection – namely, it was documented that the piece was judged to be of lesser quality than other works of the same type in the collection. Although the institution upholds its view that this piece entered the holdings and was removed properly and well within all standards and procedures, the institution welcomes and will consider any further evidence that emerges.

Foundation's Defense

William Charron acting for BEG said: The institution is a esteemed foundation in the Greek capital. The action to litigate and defame the organization and the defendants in the United States upon misleadingly incomplete allegations was previously dismissed, twice. We are certain it will be a third time.