New York's Met Museum Faces Legal Challenge Over Supposedly Nazi-Looted Van Gogh Painting
The descendants of a Jewish spouses have initiated legal proceedings against The Met, claiming that a Vincent van Gogh art piece was stolen by the Third Reich.
Case History
As stated in the lawsuit, the Stern couple purchased the artwork, titled Olive Harvest, in the mid-1930s. The following year, they were obliged to escape their home in Munich, Germany prior to WWII.
The legal action contends that the institution, which obtained the masterpiece in 1956 for a significant sum, must have realized it was probably stolen property. The heirs are now requesting the return of the artwork along with damages.
In the decades since World War II, this Nazi-looted painting has been often and discreetly exchanged, acquired and disposed of in and through the city of New York, alleges the lawsuit.
Family's Flight
The Sterns departed from Munich to America in the late 1930s with their offspring due to Nazi persecution. Yet, they were barred from transporting the painting, which was painted by the renowned Dutch in 1889.
Before the family's emigration, Nazi authorities designated the artwork as a German cultural asset and banned the Sterns from exporting it. Following authorization from a Third Reich agent, a trustee assigned by the Nazis disposed of the artwork on the family's behalf. Yet, the money from the auction were placed in a frozen account, which the Nazis later seized.
Post-War History
In 1948, or not long after, the artwork arrived in NYC and was bought by Vincent Astor, one of America's wealthiest people. Eventually, it was sold through a art dealer to the Met, which then sold it to prominent shipowner the magnate and his spouse, Elise Goulandris, in 1972.
The Greek couple founded the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation in 1979, which runs a museum in Athens, Greece where the painting is currently exhibited.
Court Allegations
BEG and a living relative of Basil Goulandris are named as defendants. The lawsuit claims that the family and its affiliates have hidden and obscured the painting's ownership and whereabouts from the family.
To this day, the defendants continue to obscure the circumstances the institution came into control of the artwork; the family's possession of the Painting from 1935 to 1938; and the truth that the Third Reich looted the canvas from the family, pressured the family into parting with it via a regime representative, and confiscated the proceeds of the transaction.
Earlier Lawsuits
The family initiated a related lawsuit in the state of California in recently, but it was dismissed in the following years. An appeal was also dismissed in recently.
Museum's Response
The legal action contends that the institution's buying of the painting was authorized by a curator, the museum's curator of European art 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 stolen by Nazis.
The institution issued a statement that it is committed to its longstanding commitment to resolve issues related to WWII.
An official commented: Never during the institution's custody of the artwork was there any documentation that it had earlier been possessed to the heirs – indeed, that data did not become known until many years after the artwork left the Met's possession.
The Met's sale of the Van Gogh met the institution's rigorous standards for deaccessioning – in particular, it was noted that the artwork was judged to be of lower caliber than other pieces of the same type in the collection. Even though The Met respectfully stands by its position that this work entered the holdings and was sold legally and well within all standards and procedures, the Met is open to and will review any additional details that emerges.
BEG's Response
Legal counsel on behalf of the Goulandris Foundation stated: BEG is a highly prestigious organization in Greece. The effort to litigate and defame the organization and the Goulandris family in the United States upon inaccurate and partial claims was previously dismissed, multiple times. We are convinced it will be again.
