Matthew Strathern. A Dishonest seller

Sherwood Forest Fine Arts: eclectic merchant or just dishonest? My personal experience.

Matthew Strathern - Sherwood Forest Fine Arts - Dishonest

About advertising & merchant Matthew Strathern \ Sherwood Forest Fine Arts

Item eBay by Matthew Strathern: #164528599756
Image Size 19" x 15"
Belgian Frans Smeers b.1873
Art Deco Oil Portrait
Superb Opportunity
Frans Smeers, 1873-1960. Belgium artist who commands large sums of money for beach views. Signed lower right. Oil on canvas. 49cm x 38cm metric. 19" x 15". Prices to £23,000 at auction. 105% moneyback if not delighted.

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Matthew Strathern - Sherwood Forest Fine Arts

© Matthew Strathern \ Sherwood Forest Fine Arts. Eclectic or just Dishonest?


From Matthew Strathern Sherwood Forest Fine Arts website: "All painting are sold with a 100% guarantee of authenticity. You may bid on any of our offerings with 100% confidence. We look forward to developing a long term relationship with all of our newly esteemed client’s world wide."

Matthew Strathern Sherwood Forest Fine Arts Website >

Summary

Mr. Matthew Strathern Sherwood Forest Fine Arts sold me a painting fake. The Pandolfini auction house art specialists proved this. It was not difficult to realize that the signature on the canvas had been forged: it was enough to scan it with Wood's lamp, an effective and economical tool that every art dealer has. Therefore, Mr. Matthew Strathern Sherwood Forest Fine Arts, despite his 35-year career, is either unscrupulous or in bad faith. I was reimbursed, I have to declare, but not for the rather large costs I incurred in returning the painting from Italy to England, although Mr Matthew Strathern Sherwood Forest Fine Arts had first assured me to do so. Every request for a refund after the painting was sent back was ignored with childish silence. So, dear Mr. Matthew Strathern Sherwood Forest Fine Arts, please: be honest, be a man, and pay for your mistake!

Documents

1.

milano@pandolfini.it
 Rif: Frans Smeers
A: Omar Viel
21 gennaio 2021, ore 16:02

Buongiorno Signor Viel,

gli esperti del dipartimento dell'Ottocento hanno avuto modo di visionare oggi l'opera da lei inviataci. Dopo un esame condotto con la lampada di wood è emersa una zona di restauro proprio intorno alla firma. Questa modifica mette in discussione purtroppo l'attribuzione e l'autenticità della firma stessa [After an examination conducted with Wood's lamp, a restoration area emerged right around the signature. This change unfortunately compromises the attribution and authenticity of the signature], e siamo quindi impossibilitati ad inserire il dipinto nelle future sessioni d'asta. Siamo dunque spiacenti di informarla che dovrà procedere con il ritiro dello stesso.

Attendo un suo gentile riscontro e resto a disposizione per qualsiasi ulteriore dettaglio.

Cordiali saluti,

SEDE DI MILANO

2.

Da: omvi-36
A: sherwoodforestfinearts (Matthew Strathern Sherwood Forest Fine Arts)
Posta inviata: 21-gen-21 16:58

Good afternoon Mr Matthew Strathern Sherwood Forest Fine Arts,

from an examination under Wood's lamp by the experts of the anchoring department of the Pandolfini auction house, the work turns out to be clearly a fake. Now, the return from Italy is not an easy thing. I have to contact a courier who deals with works of art, who must ask to the superintendency of cultural heritage in Florence for the authorization for sending abroad. All this will have a cost that I will have to charge you. I await the quote and I will let you know.

Best regards.

3.

Da: sherwoodforestfinearts (Matthew Strathern Sherwood Forest Fine Arts)
A: omvi-36
Posta inviata: 21-gen-21 17:22

Please just post it back.
Yours
Matthew

4.

Da: eBay
A: omvi-36

 Ciao Omar,

Il venditore sherwoodforestfinearts (Matthew Strathern Sherwood Forest Fine Arts) ci ha comunicato che non può acquistare un'etichetta di spedizione per la restituzione da usare per Belgian Frans Smeers b.1873 Art Deco Oil Portrait Superb Opportunity.

Il venditore paga le spese di spedizione per la restituzione [The seller pays the return shipping costs], quindi contattalo per organizzare la spedizione.

Conclusions

Despite his 35 years in business, Matthew Strathern Sherwood Forest Fine Arts is an incompetent salesman and, just like all incompetents, he behaves incorrectly to survive. Dealing with him can be a problem, and it certainly was in my case.