New York museum under fire from heirs of Jewish couple allegedly forced to surrender artwork upon fleeing to US
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is being sued by the heirs of a Jewish couple over a Vincent van Gogh oil painting they say was looted by the Nazis.
The suit alleges the couple, Hedwig and Frederick Stern, bought the painting, Olive Picking, in 1935, the year before they were forced to flee their home in Munich.
It argues that the Met, which bought the artwork in 1956 for $125,000 before selling it to a Greek shipping magnate in 1972, “knew, or should have known”, the painting was probably looted. The Stern heirs are now seeking the painting’s return and damages.
“In the decades since the end of world war two, this Nazi-looted painting has been repeatedly and secretly trafficked, purchased and sold in and through New York,” alleges the suit filed this week in federal district court in Manhattan, which was first reported by the New York Times.
