The family members of a Jewish couple have filed a lawsuit against The Metropolitan Museum of Art, alleging that a Van Gogh canvas was looted by Nazi forces.
Origins of the Dispute
According to the court documents, the Stern couple bought the piece, titled Olive Picking, in the year 1935. A year after, they were obliged to escape their home in Munich just before World War II.
The suit contends that the museum, which acquired the artwork in the mid-1950s for one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars, must have realized it was probably looted property. The family are now demanding the repatriation of the painting along with financial restitution.
In the decades since World War II, this Nazi-looted painting has been often and discreetly exchanged, bought and sold in and through New York, claims the legal filing.
Family's Flight
The Sterns fled from the city of Munich to the United States in 1936 with their large family due to persecution by the Nazis. Nevertheless, they were prevented from taking the Van Gogh piece, which was created by the renowned Dutch in 1889.
Before they left, Nazi authorities classified the painting as German cultural property and banned the family from exporting it. Once approved from a Third Reich agent, a representative designated by the authorities disposed of the painting on the family's behalf. Yet, the money from the sale were placed in a frozen account, which the Nazis later seized.
Later Transactions
By 1948, or not long after, the canvas was brought to the United States and was purchased by a wealthy American, among the richest individuals in the US. Later, it was transferred through a art dealer to the museum, which then transferred it to wealthy Greek businessman Basil Goulandris and his spouse, Mrs. Goulandris, in the early 1970s.
The Greek couple established the BEG in 1979, which runs a museum in Athens where the masterpiece is currently exhibited.
Claims and Defenses
BEG and a family member of Goulandris are listed as respondents. The filing states that the family and its associated organizations have covered up the artwork's provenance and whereabouts from the plaintiffs.
To this day, the foundation continue to conceal the manner and time the BEG came into ownership of the Painting; the couple's ownership of the masterpiece from the mid-1930s; and the truth that the Nazis confiscated the Painting from the heirs, forced the Sterns into parting with it via a trustee, and seized the proceeds of the sale.
Earlier Lawsuits
The descendants submitted a similar complaint in California in recently, but it was dismissed in the following years. An further action was also rejected in recently.
Museum's Response
The legal action states that the museum's acquisition of the artwork was sanctioned by the museum's expert, the institution's specialist of European paintings and one of the world's foremost experts on Nazi art looting. The institution and its expert were aware or ought to have been aware that the masterpiece had almost certainly been stolen by Nazis.
The institution said in a statement that it takes seriously its longstanding commitment to resolve Nazi-era claims.
A spokesperson stated: Never during the institution's custody of the painting was there any record that it had once belonged to the Stern family – indeed, that data did not become accessible until a long time after the masterpiece left the Met's possession.
The institution's deaccessioning of Olive Picking met the museum's strict criteria for disposal – specifically, it was recorded that the work was judged to be of lower caliber than other pieces of the same type in the holdings. While the museum upholds its view that this work entered the collection and was deaccessioned properly and well within all guidelines and policies, the museum welcomes and will consider any further evidence that emerges.
Foundation's Defense
A lawyer acting for the Goulandris Foundation stated: BEG is a renowned institution in the Greek capital. The attempt to sue and smear the Foundation and the defendants in the America upon inaccurate and partial claims was previously dismissed, multiple times. We are certain it will be again.
