Stephen Alan Wynn, 77,______________(be) an American real estate businessman and art collector

famous for his involvement in the American luxury casino and hotel industry. Stephen’s father _________

(change) his surname from Weinberg to Wynn, when Stephen was 4 years old, to avoid anti-Jewish

discrimination. His father, who ____________(run) a string of bingo parlors in the eastern USA, ________

(die) in 1963. Stephen ___________________(get) a degree in English Literature at the University of

Pensylvannia before his father’s death and _____________(plan) to work at Yale but he couldn’t because

he _________________(have) to pay the gambling debts his father ____________________(incur) before

dying. Stephen ______________(work) for the bingo parlors himself and in 1967 he and his family _______

(move) to Las Vegas. He _________________(live) there ever since. He_________________(be) interested

in art all his life and he ______________(own) a Matisse, a Renoir, a Van Gogh, and Gauguin and several

Warhols. Wynn _______________(have) a lot of money but he is sometimes unlucky. This story is just an

example.

In 1997, he ___________________(buy) a Picasso, Le Réve, (The Dream), which Picasso _______________

(paint) in 1932. In it, you can see Picasso’s mistress as she ______________________(sit) daydreaming.

Wynn ____________(pay) $48 million for it. It was one of his favourite pictures but he _______________

(decide) to sell it. He ____________________________(negotiate) with an investor, Steven Cohen and they

_____________________(agree)a price of $139million.

The weekend before the sale, some friends of his _________________________(visit) from New York,

staying in one of his hotels. They ______________________(want) to see the picture, which ___________

________(hang) in his office, before it was sold. Wynn ________________________(stand) in front of the

picture and explaining its history when he accidentally ______________(put) his elbow through the canvas.

An art restorer ___________________(repair) the painting in New York. It is now impossible to see where

Wynn _________________________(damage) it. But it was in vain. Obvioulsy, Cohen _______________

(refuse) to buy it, so Wynn _____________(put)it in a vault for safe keeping.