Gllery manager Geraldine Hassler ( pictured ) had mistakenly sold the painting while the gallery was storing it for the customer . An art gallery manager sold a customer ’ s £5,000 painting to somebody else by mistake – before commissioning an ‘ ugly copy ’ to try to con its owner . The Envie d ’ art gallery , in South Kensington , London , had been asked to look after the painting while the home of the customer who purchased it was undergoing renovations . But when the art lover asked for it to be delivered three years later , the gallery gave him an apparent imitation - and then tried to convince him it was his original . The Evening Standard reports that gallery manager Geraldine Hassler had mistakenly sold the painting while they were storing it for the customer . The newspaper quotes a source as saying that the gallery initially said it was having trouble locating the painting and asked the customer whether he had a picture of the artwork to help them trace it . He did not have an image – but weeks later he was informed it had been found in Envie d ’ art ’ s Paris gallery . Once it had been picked up in London , the customer spotted differences and asked if the artist had carried out any extra work on the painting . After being told this had not happened , he took his purchase home , only to find that the artist ’ s signature was dated three years after he bought it . The Evening Standard quotes the source as saying that the customer eventually found an email picture of his original and saw that he had been given a ‘ rather ugly copy ’ . The source said the gallery manager had ‘ panicked ’ when the customer asked for his painting back and ordered a new commission that was ‘ in the spirit ’ of the original ‘ for a new client ’ . After being threatened with legal action , the gallery eventually admitted its error . An art gallery manager sold a customer ’ s £5,000 painting ( left ) to somebody else by mistake – before commissioning an ‘ ugly copy ’ to try and con its owner . The Envie d ’ art gallery ( pictured ) , in South Kensington , London , had been asked to look after the painting while the home of the customer who purchased it was undergoing renovations . The Standard quotes gallery owner Yann Bombard as saying Ms Hassler alone had sold the painting by mistake and that he only found out when she came clean . He said : ‘ She really thought at the beginning he would be happy with the new painting and she lied instead of telling the truth. ’ He said he had apologised for her ‘ huge mistake ’ and offered compensation . The newspaper said Ms Hassler ‘ did not contradict ’ Mr Bombard ’ s description of what had happened but said she had nothing more to add . MailOnline has yet to receive a response following attempts to contact gallery representatives this evening .
The Envie d'art gallery in London had been hired to look after the painting . But when customer asked for it to be delivered , gallery gave him a copy . Manager lady Hassler found artwork in error while they were storing it . gallery claimed she ' panicked ' when the art lover asked for his painting and commissioned a copy ' for a new client ’ But the customer then spotted the differences and threatened legal action . Gallery owners apologised and say that Hassler made a ' huge mistake '