The Met Faces Legal Challenge Over Reportedly Nazi-Looted Van Gogh Artwork

The family members of a Jewish couple have initiated legal proceedings against The Metropolitan Museum of Art, claiming that a Van Gogh canvas was looted by the Nazis.

Case History

As stated in the legal filing, the Stern couple bought the piece, titled Gathering Olives, in the year 1935. The following year, they were compelled to leave their dwelling in Munich, Germany just before World War II.

The complaint contends that the institution, which obtained the artwork in 1956 for a significant sum, should have known it was likely stolen property. The heirs are now requesting the return of the artwork along with financial restitution.

Since the end of the war, this plundered piece has been often and discreetly exchanged, acquired and disposed of in and through NYC, states the legal filing.

Family's Flight

The Sterns fled from their Munich home to the United States in 1936 with their offspring due to the oppressive Nazi regime. Yet, they were unable to bring the Van Gogh piece, which was created by the celebrated artist in the late 19th century.

Prior to their departure, the Nazi government designated the masterpiece as property of the state and forbade the couple from taking it abroad. Following authorization from a Third Reich agent, a representative designated by the regime auctioned the painting on the family's behalf. Yet, the funds from the sale were placed in a blocked account, which the regime later seized.

Later Transactions

By 1948, or not long after, the canvas arrived in NYC and was bought by Vincent Astor, among the richest individuals in the US. Eventually, it was transferred through a commercial outlet to the institution, which then passed it on to prominent shipowner Goulandris and his wife, Elise Goulandris, in 1972.

The Greek couple set up the BEG in 1979, which manages a institution in Athens where the masterpiece is currently shown.

Court Allegations

BEG and a surviving nephew of the magnate are identified in the suit. The filing states that the defendants and its associated organizations have concealed and disguised the masterpiece's history and whereabouts from the heirs.

Currently, the foundation continue to obscure the circumstances the foundation came into control of the artwork; the Stern family's ownership of the Painting from 1935 to 1938; and the truth that the Third Reich stole the Painting from the Stern family, pressured the Sterns into selling it via a regime representative, and seized the funds of the deal.

Previous Legal Action

The Stern heirs submitted a related lawsuit in CA in 2022, but it was rejected in 2024. An legal challenge was also rejected in May 2025.

The Met's Position

The lawsuit states that the institution's buying of the piece was approved by the museum's expert, the museum's curator of European paintings and one of the world's foremost experts on Nazi art looting. The institution and its expert were aware or ought to have been aware that the Painting had likely been stolen by the Nazis.

The Met said in a statement that it takes seriously its longstanding commitment to resolve claims from the Nazi period.

A representative remarked: Not once during The Met's ownership of the piece was there any record that it had once belonged to the family – in fact, that information did not become known until many years after the artwork left the Museum's collection.

The institution's deaccessioning of the artwork met the institution's rigorous standards for removal from collection – namely, it was recorded that the work was considered to be of lesser quality than other pieces of the similar kind in the inventory. While the institution upholds its stance that this work entered the holdings and was sold legally and well within all guidelines and policies, the Met invites and will examine any additional details that emerges.

BEG's Response

William Charron on behalf of the Goulandris Foundation said: The Goulandris Foundation is a highly prestigious organization in Greece. The effort to sue and smear the organization and the Goulandris family in the US upon deceptive and insufficient accusations was previously dismissed, on two occasions. We are confident it will be again.