Metropolitan Museum Faces Legal Challenge Over Reportedly Nazi-Looted Van Gogh Masterpiece

The family members of a Jewish pair have filed a lawsuit against The Met, asserting that a the Dutch artist art piece was looted by the Third Reich.

Case History

As stated in the legal filing, Hedwig and Frederick Stern bought the painting, titled Olive Picking, in the mid-1930s. Just one year later, they were forced to flee their dwelling in Munich, Germany on the eve of WWII.

The suit contends that the museum, which obtained the artwork in the mid-1950s for a significant sum, should have known it was almost certainly looted property. The family are now demanding the restitution of the artwork along with damages.

Following WWII, this plundered piece has been often and discreetly exchanged, bought and sold in and through New York, states the legal filing.

The Sterns' Escape

The Sterns departed from their Munich home to America in the late 1930s with their offspring due to the oppressive Nazi regime. However, they were barred from transporting the artwork, which was painted by the Dutch post-impressionist in the late 19th century.

Before they left, Nazi authorities declared the painting as German cultural property and banned the Sterns from exporting it. Following authorization from a Nazi official, a trustee appointed by the authorities auctioned the painting on the Sterns' behalf. However, the proceeds from the auction were placed in a restricted account, which the regime later took.

Subsequent Ownership

In 1948, or not long after, the artwork arrived in New York and was acquired by Vincent Astor, among the richest individuals in the US. Later, it was sold through a art dealer to the Met, which then passed it on to prominent shipowner Basil Goulandris and his spouse, Mrs. Goulandris, in the early 1970s.

Basil and Elise established the Goulandris Foundation in the late 1970s, which runs a gallery in Athens, Greece where the painting is currently on display.

Claims and Defenses

The institution and a surviving nephew of Goulandris are identified in the suit. The legal action claims that the defendants and its affiliates have hidden and obscured the painting's ownership and location from the family.

Currently, the Goulandris Defendants continue to conceal the manner and time the institution came into control of the piece; the Stern family's ownership of the masterpiece from several years; and the truth that the Third Reich looted the artwork from the family, coerced the Sterns into parting with it via a Nazi-appointed agent, and confiscated the money of the transaction.

Prior Cases

The descendants submitted a similar complaint in California in the year 2022, but it was thrown out in the following years. An legal challenge was also dismissed in recently.

Institution's Statement

The legal action contends that the museum's acquisition of the painting was sanctioned by Theodore Rousseau Jr, the institution's specialist of European paintings and one of the world's foremost experts on art theft during the Nazi era. The institution and its expert were aware or ought to have been aware that the artwork had almost certainly been seized by the Nazis.

The institution responded that it takes seriously its longstanding commitment to handle claims from the Nazi period.

A representative remarked: Not once during the museum's possession of the artwork was there any record that it had previously been owned to the family – in fact, that information did not become accessible until a long time after the masterpiece left the Met's possession.

The Met's sale of Olive Picking met the museum's strict criteria for deaccessioning – specifically, it was recorded that the piece was considered to be of lower caliber than additional artworks of the comparable nature in the inventory. Although The Met maintains its stance that this work entered the collection and was deaccessioned legally and well within all guidelines and policies, the Met welcomes and will consider any further evidence that emerges.

BEG's Response

A lawyer acting for the Goulandris Foundation stated: The institution is a renowned institution in Athens. The attempt to sue and smear the organization and the family in the US upon deceptive and insufficient accusations was already thrown out, multiple times. We are convinced it will be a third time.