NEW YORK (AP) - The estate of painter George Grosz has filed a lawsuit in federal court in New York against the Museum of Modern Art.

The heirs of the German expressionist artist say MoMA has refused to return two paintings and a watercolor that were left behind when Grosz fled Germany in 1933.

In the lawsuit filed Friday, Grosz's estate argues that it is the rightful owner of the 1927 portrait of "The Poet Max Herrmann-Neisse" and of another work by Grosz, "Self-Portrait With a Model," in MoMA's collection.

According to lawyers for the estate, Charlotte Weidler, an art dealer and curator for the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, said she inherited "Portrait of the Poet Max Herrmann-Neisse" and gave it to be sold to MoMA in 1952. The museum bought "Republican Automatons" in 1946 and was given "Self-Portrait With Model" in 1954.

A spokesman for the museum declined comment.