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.
