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The descendants of a Jewish pair have brought a case against The Metropolitan Museum of Art, asserting that a the Dutch artist canvas was stolen by the Third Reich.

Origins of the Dispute

According to the legal filing, the Stern couple purchased the piece, titled Olive Picking, in 1935. The following year, they were obliged to escape their home in Munich, Germany on the eve of WWII.

The legal action contends that the Met, which obtained the masterpiece in 1956 for a significant sum, should have known it was almost certainly looted property. The family are now requesting the repatriation of the canvas along with damages.

In the decades since World War II, this stolen artwork has been frequently and covertly traded, purchased and sold in and through the city of New York, alleges the lawsuit.

Family's Flight

The Sterns departed from their Munich home to California in the late 1930s with their large family due to Nazi persecution. Nevertheless, they were prevented from taking the Van Gogh piece, which was painted by the Dutch post-impressionist in 1889.

Before they left, Nazi authorities designated the painting as German cultural property and prohibited the couple from taking it abroad. Once approved from a Third Reich agent, a representative appointed by the regime sold the piece on the couple's behalf. Yet, the money from the auction were placed in a blocked account, which the Nazis later seized.

Post-War History

By 1948, or shortly after, the canvas arrived in New York and was bought by Vincent Astor, among the richest individuals in the US. Eventually, it was sold through a gallery to the Met, which then transferred it to prominent shipowner the magnate and his partner, Elise, in 1972.

The Goulandris pair established the BEG in 1979, which manages a institution in Athens, Greece where the artwork is currently on display.

Court Allegations

The institution and a surviving nephew of the magnate are listed as respondents. The lawsuit states that the Goulandris family and its affiliates have hidden and obscured the artwork's provenance and location from the family.

Even now, the foundation continue to hide how and when the foundation came into possession of the artwork; the Stern family's ownership of the masterpiece from the mid-1930s; and the reality that the regime looted the artwork from the heirs, forced the family into parting with it via a Nazi-appointed agent, and seized the proceeds of the transaction.

Earlier Lawsuits

The Stern heirs filed a comparable case in California in the year 2022, but it was dismissed in 2024. An legal challenge was also rejected in May 2025.

The Met's Position

The legal action states that the Met's purchase of the piece was approved by the museum's expert, the museum's curator of European art and a leading authority on art theft during the Nazi era. The institution and its expert knew or should have known that the Painting had almost certainly been stolen by the Nazis.

The institution responded that it prioritizes its longstanding commitment to resolve Nazi-era claims.

An official remarked: Not once during The Met's ownership of the artwork was there any record that it had earlier been possessed to the heirs – actually, that information did not become known until a long time after the painting left the Museum's collection.

The museum's disposal of Olive Picking met the museum's strict criteria for disposal – specifically, it was recorded that the piece was judged to be of inferior standard than other pieces of the same type in the holdings. Even though the institution respectfully stands by its position that this work entered the holdings and was deaccessioned legally and well within all guidelines and policies, the museum invites and will examine any additional details that comes to light.

Foundation's Defense

Legal counsel on behalf of the foundation said: The institution is a renowned institution in Athens. The attempt to litigate and defame the organization and the family in the United States upon deceptive and insufficient accusations was already thrown out, multiple times. We are convinced it will be once more.