The heirs of a Jewish couple who fled Nazi Germany are suing the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a Greek foundation, claiming a prized van Gogh painting was Nazi-looted art, the New York Times reports. The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court, centers on "Olive Picking," painted by Vincent van Gogh in 1889. The plaintiffs say Hedwig and Frederick Stern bought the painting in 1935 but were unable to take it with them when they escaped Munich with their six children in 1936.
The artwork was later sold in Germany on their behalf, but the family alleges the proceeds were seized by the Nazis. After World War II, the painting wound up in the hands of wealthy American Vincent Astor, whose wife, philanthropist Brooke Astor, eventually sold it to the Met in 1956 for $125,000. The museum then sold it in 1972 to Greek shipping magnate Basil Goulandris. It's now displayed at an Athens museum run by a foundation the Goulandris family started, with no mention of the Sterns in its provenance records.
The Stern heirs claim the Met, particularly curator Theodore Rousseau Jr.—a former "Monuments Man" who specialized in recovering Nazi-looted art—should have investigated the painting's history more thoroughly, especially since the work passed through dealers known to have handled looted art. The Met maintains it was unaware of the painting's connection to the Stern family during its ownership or at the time of sale, stating that information only surfaced decades later.
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The museum says it followed all legal guidelines and is open to new evidence. The lawsuit seeks either the return of the van Gogh or compensation for the Met's use and sale of the artwork. The Sterns' previous attempt to reclaim the painting in California was dismissed over jurisdiction, prompting the new filing in New York. A similar suit involving another van Gogh work, "Sunflowers," is playing out in Chicago, Courthouse News reported last month.
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