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The family members of a Jewish spouses have filed a lawsuit against The Met, claiming that a the Dutch artist canvas was seized by Nazi forces.

Case History

As stated in the lawsuit, Hedwig and Frederick Stern acquired the piece, titled Gathering Olives, in 1935. The following year, they were compelled to leave their residence in Munich just before WWII.

The suit contends that the museum, which obtained the artwork in 1956 for $125,000, should have known it was almost certainly confiscated property. The family are now requesting the return of the artwork along with financial restitution.

In the decades since World War II, this plundered piece has been often and discreetly exchanged, bought and sold in and through NYC, states the lawsuit.

Forced Emigration

The Sterns escaped from their Munich home to the United States in the late 1930s with their offspring due to Nazi persecution. Nevertheless, they were prevented from taking the painting, which was produced by the Dutch post-impressionist in 1889.

Prior to their departure, Nazi authorities declared the painting as German cultural property and prohibited the couple from bringing it with them. After obtaining permission from a Nazi official, a agent designated by the Nazis auctioned the painting on the Sterns' behalf. But, the money from the transaction were placed in a frozen account, which the authorities later confiscated.

Post-War History

Around 1948, or shortly after, the artwork was brought to NYC and was acquired by a prominent figure, a member of the Astor family. Eventually, it was transferred through a art dealer to the Met, which then sold it to wealthy Greek businessman Goulandris and his partner, Mrs. Goulandris, in 1972.

Basil and Elise established the Goulandris Foundation in the late 1970s, which runs a museum in the Greek capital where the masterpiece is currently shown.

Claims and Defenses

The institution and a surviving nephew of Goulandris are listed as respondents. The lawsuit alleges that the family and its associated organizations have hidden and obscured the artwork's provenance and whereabouts from the heirs.

Currently, the defendants continue to obscure the circumstances the BEG came into ownership of the artwork; the family's possession of the artwork from the mid-1930s; and the truth that the Third Reich stole the canvas from the heirs, pressured the couple into parting with it via a Nazi-appointed agent, and confiscated the funds of the deal.

Earlier Lawsuits

The descendants filed a comparable case in CA in the year 2022, but it was thrown out in 2024. An further action was also denied in May 2025.

Institution's Statement

The lawsuit argues that the museum's acquisition of the artwork was sanctioned by Theodore Rousseau Jr, the Met's authority of European art and one of the world's foremost experts on Nazi-era looted art. The curator and the museum were aware or ought to have been aware that the masterpiece had probably been stolen by Nazis.

The Met responded that it takes seriously its ongoing pledge to handle claims from the Nazi period.

A representative remarked: At no time during the museum's possession of the artwork was there any record that it had once belonged to the Stern family – actually, that data did not become accessible until several decades after the masterpiece left the Museum's collection.

The Met's sale of the artwork met the museum's strict criteria for deaccessioning – specifically, it was documented that the piece was deemed to be of lesser quality than other pieces of the similar kind in the collection. Although the institution respectfully stands by its stance that this artwork entered the holdings and was sold properly and well within all standards and procedures, the Met welcomes and will consider any further evidence that emerges.

Foundation's Defense

William Charron representing BEG said: BEG is a renowned institution in Greece. The action to take legal action against the organization and the Goulandris family in the America upon misleadingly incomplete allegations was earlier rejected, twice. We are certain it will be again.