PARIS (Reuters) — A million-dollar drawing
by Pablo Picasso was snapped up on Wednesday by a 25 year-old American
art lover at a online charity raffle for a mere 100 euros ($140).
Jeffrey Gonano said he had been looking for a picture to hang on
his living room wall when he read a news article about "L'Homme au
Gibus" ("Man with Opera Hat"), raffled by Sotheby's in Paris.
"I was looking for art and I thought I might as well," the project
manager at a fire sprinkler firm told Reuters by telephone.
Despite the enormous value of his new acquisition, Gonano vowed not
to sell the artwork, at least for the time being.
His winning ticket 747815 — picked by a computer system on Wednesday — was one of 50,000 put up for sale online at 100 euros each to
raise funds for an association working to preserve the ancient city
of Tyre, in modern day Lebanon.
Organisers said that buyers from France and Germany to Iran and
Kyrgyzstan had taken part, with a particularly large number of
Americans.
The small drawing dates from 1914, during the artist's Cubist phase,
and was purchased by the Association to Save Tyre from a New York
gallery with the help of a large bank loan. Organizers say they paid
slightly less for the work than the one million dollar estimate
given by Sotheby's experts.
The sale was given the green light by Picasso's grandson Olivier
Picasso who said his grandfather would have been thrilled that his
work was being put to good use.
Jeffrey Gonano said he had been looking for a picture to hang on
his living room wall when he read a news article about "L'Homme au
Gibus" ("Man with Opera Hat"), raffled by Sotheby's in Paris.
