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Man Finds Out Drawing Bought For 73p Is Potentially Worth £10,000

Man Finds Out Drawing Bought For 73p Is Potentially Worth £10,000

Not a bad investment, overall

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

A man has discovered that a drawing he bought in South America for about 73p has a value closer to £10,000 - because it was drawn by a successful artist.

Even more bizarre, the artist is famous for having a rare condition that allows him to paint interesting pictures whilst he is asleep, and he's made millions out of it.

Thirty-nine-year-old Santiago Taute paid only one dollar for the drawing when he took a liking to it at a street market in Ecuador back in 2001.

He thought little of it, and it lay dormant in a storage unit in Spain until he finally shipped over his stuff in 2013 after moving to the UK.

Artist Lee Hadwin.
SWNS

Luckily, his wife Delia is a bit of an art enthusiast, and thought that she recognised the signature and style as that of Lee Hadwin, the aforementioned 'sleep artist'.

She'd met Lee at an event years before, and got in touch to ask if it was one of his.

It turned out that it was.

Lee has sold artworks to Donald Trump for £100,000, and has exhibited his works around the world.

He reckons that this colourful piece - called 'Bolide' - was created while he was living in Australia in about 2001.

However, he has no clue how it ended up in South America.

Well, now it stands to make Santiago, who is originally from Ecuador, a decent whack of cash if he decides to sell.

Santiago and his wife Delia with the piece.
SWNS

He said: "I liked the look of the drawing because of all of the colours, and ended up purchasing it for one dollar with a few other souvenirs.

"I moved from Ecuador to Spain and then to England, leaving a lot of my belongings in storage in Spain as I was living in a small house and didn't have the space.

"I finally got all my boxes from Spain last year when we moved into a new home. I was taking things out of the boxes and found the painting so went to show my wife.

"She recognised the signature, checked the website of the artist and he has now confirmed the drawing I bought for a dollar is one of his and worth thousands!

"We are both very happy and shocked to find this out."

Lee Hadwin creates his pictures in his sleep.
SWNS

Delia added: "I thought it looked nice and colourful when Santiago first showed it to me, and then when I looked at it again when we were trying to figure out where to put it, I realised it actually looked familiar.

"I spotted the signature and thought I recognised it as that of an artist I'd actually met who sleep draws. I went on his website and the signature was exactly the same.

"I'd met Lee before so I contacted him through his website and sent him a picture of the drawing, explaining we'd bought it in a market and asking him if it was his.

"Lee called me back and said that it was definitely his drawing - he was 100 percent certain.

"He said he did it in 2001 when he was in Australia and he had no idea how it had ended up in Ecuador."

Lee values the drawing between £8,000 and £10,000.
SWNS

As for artist Lee, he said: "I received a call from Delia a few days ago in regards to the painting in question and I can confirm that it is one of my pieces.

"I must say I am seriously shocked and stunned that the piece was purchased in Ecuador when the piece was done in Australia. How it has made it over to Ecuador is anyone's guess!

"I am also shocked that it is here in the UK and a person who has been to my exhibitions has it!

"I would say this piece has the approximate value of 8-10K. However, that depends on the person. If someone really likes and wants a piece, then they will pay!

"I hope they just get enjoyment out of whatever they can from the piece.

"I believe art is all about evoking feelings, nothing more, nothing less! I think people babble on way too much about what art is or should be. If you like a piece and it evokes a feeling, then buy it."

Featured Image Credit: SWNS

Topics: World News, UK News, south america, Art, Interesting, UK Entertainment, Weird