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The family members of a Jewish spouses have brought a case against New York's Metropolitan Museum, asserting that a the Dutch artist oil painting was stolen by the Nazis.

Origins of the Dispute

According to the legal filing, the Stern couple purchased the artwork, titled Gathering Olives, in the mid-1930s. A year after, they were compelled to leave their residence in the German city of Munich just before World War II.

The complaint contends that the Met, which obtained the painting in 1956 for a significant sum, should have known it was probably stolen property. The heirs are now requesting the repatriation of the canvas along with financial restitution.

In the decades since WWII, this stolen artwork has been often and discreetly exchanged, bought and sold in and through New York, alleges the legal filing.

Forced Emigration

The Sterns escaped from Munich to America in 1936 with their six children due to the oppressive Nazi regime. Yet, they were barred from transporting the artwork, which was painted by the celebrated artist in the late 19th century.

Before they left, the Nazi government declared the masterpiece as a German cultural asset and banned the Sterns from taking it abroad. Following authorization from a Nazi official, a representative designated by the Nazis auctioned the piece on the family's behalf. But, the money from the auction were held in a blocked account, which the regime later confiscated.

Later Transactions

Around 1948, or not long after, the painting arrived in New York and was bought by a prominent figure, among the richest individuals in the US. Subsequently, it was sold through a commercial outlet to the Met, which then passed it on to Greek shipping magnate the magnate and his spouse, Elise, in 1972.

The Greek couple established the BEG in the late 1970s, which manages a gallery in Athens, Greece where the painting is currently exhibited.

Legal Arguments

The foundation and a family member of the magnate are listed as respondents. The filing states that the Goulandris family and its associated organizations have covered up the painting's ownership and current place from the plaintiffs.

To this day, the foundation continue to conceal the circumstances the BEG came into possession of the piece; the couple's ownership of the artwork from the mid-1930s; and the reality that the Third Reich confiscated the Painting from the heirs, pressured the family into selling it via a regime representative, and seized the proceeds of the transaction.

Prior Cases

The Stern heirs submitted a similar complaint in California in recently, but it was rejected in 2024. An legal challenge was also denied in recently.

Museum's Response

The lawsuit contends that the institution's buying of the painting was authorized by Theodore Rousseau Jr, the institution's specialist of European paintings and one of the world's foremost experts on Nazi-era looted art. The institution and its expert must have known that the masterpiece had likely been looted by the regime.

The institution said in a statement that it takes seriously its ongoing pledge to resolve Nazi-era claims.

An official commented: At no time during the museum's possession of the painting was there any evidence that it had once belonged to the Stern family – in fact, that knowledge did not become available until several decades after the painting left the Museum's collection.

The museum's disposal of Olive Picking met the Met's guidelines for disposal – in particular, it was noted that the work was considered to be of inferior standard than additional artworks of the similar kind in the collection. While the institution upholds its stance that this artwork entered the collection and was deaccessioned lawfully and well within all guidelines and policies, the institution welcomes and will consider any further evidence that comes to light.

BEG's Response

A lawyer representing BEG commented: The Goulandris Foundation is a esteemed foundation in the Greek capital. The action to sue and smear the institution and the defendants in the US upon misleadingly incomplete allegations was already thrown out, twice. We are confident it will be once more.