The heirs of a Jewish couple who fled Nazi Germany are suing New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art over “Olive Picking,” an 1889 Vincent van Gogh oil painting they claim was looted by the Nazis during World War II and later trafficked through New York’s art world.
According to the lawsuit filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Hedwig and Frederick Stern purchased the painting in 1935, one year before fleeing Munich, Germany, with their six children, The New York Times reported.
The Nazi regime declared the painting “German cultural property,” forbidding the Sterns from taking it abroad. A Nazi-appointed “trustee” sold the painting, and the proceeds were seized by the Third Reich.
The Met acquired it from wealthy collector Vincent Astor in 1

 Cleveland Jewish News
 Cleveland Jewish News

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