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met museum sued again van gogh painting jewish heirs

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is facing a new lawsuit over Vincent van Gogh's *Olive Picking* (1889), which it sold to a Greek collector in 1972. The suit, filed by heirs of Hedwig and Frederick Stern, alleges the painting was looted from the Sterns when they fled Nazi Germany and should never have entered the Met's collection. The Met bought the work in 1956 for $125,000 and later sold it to the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation in Athens, where it is now displayed. A previous 2022 lawsuit in California was dismissed on venue grounds; the heirs are now pursuing the case in New York federal court, arguing the painting was repeatedly trafficked through the city.

Manhattan D.A.’s Office Returns 17 Stolen Antiquities and Rare Books to Italy

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office returned 17 stolen antiquities and rare books, valued at over $1.5 million, to Italy and the Vatican in a restitution ceremony. The items include six rare 16th–17th century Chinese-language Jesuit books stolen from the Vatican Archives and other artifacts seized from institutions like the Morgan Library and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

looted artworks returned turkey met museum manhattan da

On December 8, 2025, a repatriation ceremony in New York saw 43 looted antiquities returned to Turkey, including a 2nd-century marble head of Demosthenes from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a Roman bronze statue of an emperor from collector Aaron Mendelsohn, and 41 terracotta reliefs from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The returns resulted from a years-long investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit into networks that plundered archaeological sites in Turkey and sold items with forged provenance.

French government adopts bill for restitution of colonial-era objects

The French government has adopted a bill that facilitates the restitution of cultural objects plundered from former colonies, eight years after President Emmanuel Macron pledged to return African heritage. Presented by Culture Minister Rachida Dati, the bill maintains that French public collections are inalienable but creates an exemption for items taken by force between 1815 and 1972. Restitution requests must come from foreign states, be for public preservation and display, and involve items allegedly stolen, looted, or sold under duress. A bilateral scientific committee will examine each case, with final approval from the Conseil d'État. The bill aims to replace the current slow, case-by-case legislative process that has resulted in only 30 objects returned since 2017.