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The descendants of a Jewish couple have initiated legal proceedings against The Metropolitan Museum of Art, claiming that a the Dutch artist oil painting was stolen by the Nazis.

Case History

Per the court documents, Hedwig and Frederick Stern bought the piece, titled Olive Picking, in the mid-1930s. The following year, they were obliged to escape their home in the German city of Munich prior to the Second World War.

The complaint states that the museum, which purchased the artwork in the mid-1950s for $125,000, should have known it was likely looted property. The descendants are now demanding the restitution of the artwork along with damages.

In the decades since WWII, this stolen artwork has been repeatedly and secretly trafficked, purchased and sold in and through New York, claims the legal filing.

Forced Emigration

Hedwig and Frederick Stern fled from the city of Munich to California in 1936 with their offspring due to Nazi persecution. Yet, they were unable to bring the artwork, which was produced by the renowned Dutch in 1889.

Prior to their departure, Nazi authorities designated the artwork as German cultural property and banned the Sterns from exporting it. Once approved from a regime representative, a agent designated by the regime auctioned the piece on the family's behalf. However, the money from the sale were deposited in a blocked account, which the authorities later confiscated.

Later Transactions

In 1948, or not long after, the canvas entered the United States and was purchased by a prominent figure, among the richest individuals in the US. Later, it was exchanged through a art dealer to the institution, which then sold it to wealthy Greek businessman the magnate and his partner, Elise, in 1972.

Basil and Elise set up the Goulandris Foundation in 1979, which manages a gallery in Athens where the artwork is currently on display.

Court Allegations

BEG and a family member of Basil Goulandris are identified in the suit. The lawsuit states that the Goulandris family and its affiliates have concealed and disguised the masterpiece's history and current place from the plaintiffs.

Even now, the foundation continue to hide the circumstances the foundation came into possession of the piece; the Stern family's ownership of the Painting from 1935 to 1938; and the facts that the regime stole the Painting from the Stern family, coerced the Sterns into selling it via a regime representative, and confiscated the funds of the transaction.

Previous Legal Action

The family initiated a related lawsuit in California in recently, but it was dismissed in 2024. An legal challenge was also denied in spring 2025.

Institution's Statement

The legal action contends that the museum's acquisition of the artwork was authorized by Theodore Rousseau Jr, the museum's curator of European art and one of the world's foremost experts on Nazi art looting. The institution and its expert knew or should have known that the Painting had probably been looted by the Nazis.

The Met responded that it is committed to its longstanding commitment to address issues related to WWII.

An official stated: Never during the museum's possession of the piece was there any documentation that it had earlier been possessed to the heirs – indeed, that data did not become known until many years after the artwork left the Met's possession.

The museum's disposal of the Van Gogh met the institution's rigorous standards for removal from collection – specifically, it was documented that the work was judged to be of lesser quality than additional artworks of the comparable nature in the inventory. While the museum upholds its position that this work entered the holdings and was removed lawfully and well within all rules and regulations, the institution invites and will examine any further evidence that emerges.

BEG's Response

A lawyer acting for the Goulandris Foundation said: BEG is a renowned institution in Athens. The effort to take legal action against the organization and the defendants in the United States upon misleadingly incomplete allegations was previously dismissed, twice. We are certain it will be again.