🔗 Share this article

The descendants of a Jewish couple have initiated legal proceedings against New York's Metropolitan Museum, alleging that a the Dutch artist art piece was seized by Nazi forces.

Origins of the Dispute

According to the lawsuit, the Stern couple acquired the painting, titled Olive Picking, in 1935. The following year, they were obliged to escape their home in Munich prior to WWII.

The suit states that the museum, which acquired the painting in the mid-1950s for a significant sum, ought to have been aware it was almost certainly confiscated property. The heirs are now demanding the return of the painting along with damages.

In the decades since World War II, this stolen artwork has been repeatedly and secretly trafficked, acquired and disposed of in and through NYC, alleges the lawsuit.

The Sterns' Escape

Hedwig and Frederick Stern escaped from their Munich home to the United States in 1936 with their offspring due to persecution by the Nazis. Nevertheless, they were barred from transporting the artwork, which was created by the renowned Dutch in 1889.

Before they left, the regime declared the painting as a German cultural asset and banned the family from bringing it with them. After obtaining permission from a Nazi official, a trustee appointed by the Nazis sold the piece on the Sterns' behalf. Yet, the funds from the auction were placed in a blocked account, which the Nazis later seized.

Later Transactions

By 1948, or shortly after, the artwork entered NYC and was bought by Vincent Astor, among the richest individuals in the US. Later, it was exchanged through a art dealer to the institution, which then passed it on to wealthy Greek businessman the magnate and his partner, Elise, in 1972.

The Greek couple founded the Goulandris Foundation in 1979, which operates a museum in Athens, Greece where the masterpiece is currently exhibited.

Court Allegations

The institution and a family member of the magnate are listed as respondents. The lawsuit alleges that the family and its associated organizations have concealed and disguised the painting's ownership and whereabouts from the plaintiffs.

To this day, the Goulandris Defendants continue to conceal the circumstances the foundation came into ownership of the artwork; the couple's ownership of the masterpiece from the mid-1930s; and the reality that the regime looted the artwork from the heirs, forced the Sterns into disposing of it via a Nazi-appointed agent, and confiscated the funds of the transaction.

Previous Legal Action

The family filed a similar complaint in the state of California in recently, but it was dismissed in 2024. An further action was also rejected in recently.

Institution's Statement

The legal action argues that the museum's acquisition of the artwork was sanctioned by Theodore Rousseau Jr, the Met's authority of European paintings and a renowned specialist on Nazi art looting. Rousseau and the Met knew or should have known that the artwork had likely been stolen by the Nazis.

The museum said in a statement that it takes seriously its ongoing pledge to address 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 heirs – in fact, that data did not become accessible until a long time after the painting left the institution's holdings.

The Met's sale of Olive Picking met the institution's rigorous standards for removal from collection – in particular, it was noted that the artwork was considered to be of inferior standard than other pieces of the similar kind in the collection. Although the institution upholds its view that this piece entered the collection and was removed lawfully and well within all guidelines and policies, the institution invites and will examine any new information that emerges.

BEG's Response

William Charron on behalf of the foundation stated: BEG is a highly prestigious organization in the Greek capital. The effort to take legal action against the institution and the Goulandris family in the US upon deceptive and insufficient accusations was previously dismissed, twice. We are convinced it will be again.