Biography
Run by Francis Matthiesen, whose Berlin and later London galleries showed both major old masters and the work of impressionist and twentieth century masters. The Berlin and London galleries were instrumental in brokering the celebrated sale of priceless masterpieces from The Hermitage first to Calouste Gulbenkian and later to Andrew Mellon. These paintings formed the keystone to the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Francis Matthiesen’s catalogues have been a source of inspiration for his son, although his premature death led to the closure of the London gallery in 1963 over a decade before his son Patrick was himself able to join the art-dealing fraternity (Matthiesen Fine Art, 1977).
