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.
This case matters because it underscores ongoing tensions around Nazi-looted art restitution, particularly for works that changed hands decades ago. The Met's defense—that it could not have known the painting's provenance until long after the sale—highlights the challenges heirs face in recovering stolen art. The lawsuit also revives scrutiny of the Met's deaccessioning practices, which were criticized in 1972 when the sale was denounced by the Art Dealers Association of America. A ruling against the Met could set a precedent for how museums handle provenance research and restitution claims for works sold before modern due diligence standards.