$140 Picasso? Man Wins Million-Dollar Drawing In Raffle

A $140 Picasso? That’s right. A man from Wexford, PA. is “still in shock”  after winning an international raffle for a million-dollar Picasso Wednesday, with a $140 ticket. Jeffrey Gonano w...
$140 Picasso? Man Wins Million-Dollar Drawing In Raffle
Written by Val Powell
  • A $140 Picasso? That’s right. A man from Wexford, PA. is “still in shock”  after winning an international raffle for a million-dollar Picasso Wednesday, with a $140 ticket.

    Jeffrey Gonano was the lucky one when his ticket, 747815 was randomly picked by a computer system on Wednesday. The ticket was among 50,000 other tickets posted for sale online at 100 euros each to raise funds needed to preserve Tyre – an ancient biblical city found in Lebanon.

    Coincidentally, the 25-year-old who became interested in art only a few years ago had been looking for artwork to hang on his wall. When it turned out that the prize was famous cubist artist Pablo Picasso’s 1914 painting, “L’Homme au Gibus” (Man with Opera Hat), Gonano couldn’t hide his excitement.

    “I’m still in shock. It’s still very odd,” Gonano said. “I never thought I would win. I just saw a news article on Yahoo and bought a ticket. I don’t even know why.”

    His girlfriend, Gloria Spataro said that her fiancée had been looking for pieces of art for his house. Although the new acquisition can easily make Gonano rich, he has vowed not to sell the painting, at least not yet. According to NBC News, the organization had spent a fortune to purchase the drawing from a New York gallery with the help of a bank loan.

    However, the Picasso winner has decided that he will not hang the painting in his home. “It’s too expensive to put on my wall,” said Gonano. One of his plans is to lend it to a museum so that other people can enjoy it as well.

    The event attracted buyers from Germany, France, Kyrgyzstan, America and Iran. The grandson of the artwork’s creator, Oliver Picasso said his grandfather would have been thrilled that his drawing was being used for a good cause had he been alive.

    “My grandfather was a pioneer in everything, in his love life, in his artwork, so tonight I’m sure he would have helped the cause,” he said.

    Image via YouTube

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