🔗 Share this article New York's Met Museum Faces Lawsuit Over Supposedly Nazi-Stolen Van Gogh Masterpiece The family members of a Jewish pair have initiated legal proceedings against New York's Metropolitan Museum, asserting that a Vincent van Gogh oil painting was stolen by the Nazis. Origins of the Dispute As stated in the court documents, the Stern couple acquired the artwork, titled Gathering Olives, in the mid-1930s. The following year, they were compelled to leave their home in Munich prior to the Second World War. The legal action argues that the Met, which acquired the painting in the 1950s for one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars, should have known it was probably confiscated property. The family are now requesting the return of the canvas along with financial restitution. Since the end of WWII, this stolen artwork has been frequently and covertly traded, acquired and disposed of in and through the city of New York, claims the legal filing. Family's Flight The Sterns escaped from the city of Munich to the United States in 1936 with their large family due to Nazi persecution. However, they were prevented from taking the artwork, which was painted by the Dutch post-impressionist in 1889. Before the family's emigration, the regime declared the painting as German cultural property and forbade the Sterns from exporting it. Following authorization from a Third Reich agent, a agent designated by the authorities disposed of the piece on the couple's behalf. Yet, the money from the sale were placed in a frozen account, which the Nazis later confiscated. Subsequent Ownership By 1948, or shortly after, the artwork was brought to New York and was bought by Vincent Astor, among the richest individuals in the US. Subsequently, it was transferred through a art dealer to the museum, which then transferred it to Greek shipping magnate the magnate and his spouse, Elise, in the early 1970s. The Goulandris pair set up the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation in the late 1970s, which runs a institution in Athens, Greece where the painting is currently shown. Claims and Defenses BEG and a living relative of the magnate are listed as respondents. The legal action alleges that the defendants and its associated organizations have hidden and obscured the painting's ownership and location from the plaintiffs. Even now, the foundation continue to conceal the circumstances the BEG came into ownership of the piece; the Stern family's ownership of the masterpiece from 1935 to 1938; and the facts that the regime confiscated the Painting from the Stern family, coerced the Sterns into selling it via a trustee, and took the money of the deal. Previous Legal Action The family submitted a comparable case in California in 2022, but it was thrown out in 2024. An further action was also denied in recently. Museum's Response The legal action states that the Met's purchase of the artwork was authorized by Theodore Rousseau Jr, the Met's authority of European paintings and a leading authority on Nazi art looting. The curator and the museum must have known that the masterpiece had likely been stolen by the Nazis. The Met said in a statement that it is committed to its ongoing pledge to handle claims from the Nazi period. An official stated: At no time during the museum's possession of the artwork was there any documentation that it had previously been owned to the Stern family – indeed, that knowledge did not become accessible until many years after the painting left the institution's holdings. The institution's deaccessioning of Olive Picking met the Met's guidelines for disposal – in particular, it was recorded that the work was considered to be of inferior standard than other pieces of the same type in the inventory. While the institution upholds its stance that this piece entered the holdings and was removed legally and well within all guidelines and policies, the Met is open to and will review any further evidence that comes to light. BEG's Response A lawyer acting for BEG said: The Goulandris Foundation is a esteemed foundation in Greece. The action to litigate and defame the organization and the Goulandris family in the US upon deceptive and insufficient accusations was already thrown out, twice. We are convinced it will be a third time.