Heirs Sue Met Over Nazi-Looted Van Gogh

The heirs of Hedwig and Frederick Stern have sued the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation in Manhattan federal court seeking return of Vincent van Gogh’s 1889 Olive Picking (or its value) and damages, alleging the painting was seized or coerced from the Sterns when they fled Munich in 1936. The complaint says Nazi authorities declared the work “German cultural property,” had it sold by a Nazi-appointed trustee with the proceeds confiscated, and that the canvas later surfaced in the U.S. through dealers and collectors, including Vincent Astor, before the Met bought it in 1956 for $125,000 and sold it in 1972 to Basil Goulandris. Plaintiffs contend the Met “knew or should have known” the painting was likely looted, singling out curator Theodore Rousseau Jr. and pointing to provenance gaps the heirs say the Goulandris foundation has obscured. The heirs are seeking the painting or its value, plus compensatory and punitive damages and legal fees, and state the complaint requests more than $75,000. The Met says records tying the painting to the Sterns emerged decades after it owned the work and that it followed legal guidelines at the time; the heirs note a prior 2022 California suit was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, prompting the New York filing.