Max Stern (artist)

Max Stern (1904-1987) was a German-Canadian art dealer and art collector. He is best known for the restitution claims related to art he was forced to sell under duress during the Nazi era in Germany.

Born in Mönchengladbach, Germany, Stern inherited the Galerie Stern in Düsseldorf from his father, Julius Stern, in 1934. Under pressure from the Nazi regime, he was progressively excluded from the art market due to his Jewish heritage. In 1937, he was forced to liquidate the gallery's stock in what is considered a forced sale under duress. He emigrated to Canada in 1941, where he became a respected art historian and dealer.

After the war, Stern spent considerable time and effort attempting to recover the artworks that had been confiscated or sold under duress. Upon his death, he bequeathed his estate to three institutions: Concordia University and McGill University in Montreal, and Hebrew University in Jerusalem. These institutions continue to pursue the recovery of works of art that once belonged to Galerie Stern through the Max Stern Art Restitution Project. The project aims to research the provenance of artworks that passed through the Galerie Stern during the period of Nazi persecution and to seek their restitution to the Stern estate. The restitution efforts have resulted in the recovery of numerous significant works of art.