Art prints worth thousands found in wallpaper led to a huge donation to charity.

NEW YORK (AP) – In late June, Corinne Turner walked into an Utah store and spent 99 cents on wallpaper. At home, she opened her purchase to find – surprise! – five pieces of art worth thousands of dollars wrapped inside.

Now those prints – and hundreds more that were later donated by the artist – are being sold to raise money for multiple sclerosis victims, a windfall set into motion when art mixed with philanthropy.

The tale began two years ago, when a shipment of prints by the artist know simply as Pino turned up missing. Wrapped in canvas wallpaper, they eventually reappeared in The Basement, an Ogden, Utah, store that sells misdirected, unclaimed freight.

Thinking the wallpaper would please her daughter, Turner plunked down her money and left on June 28. But her daughter was unimpressed, and the canvas stayed packed away.

Once opened, though, it revealed the hidden artwork. A local art dealer identified the artist as Pino, best known for producing romance novel cover art with model Fabio.

Turner contacted the New Jersey artist, whose son verified the artworks’ authenticity and told her to keep the prints. Turner opted to sell the pieces to raise funds for multiple sclerosis victims.

Pino agreed that was a worthy cause – and donated 495 limited edition prints of a previously unreleased piece. The gesture is expected to raise more than $400,000 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

The cause is personal for both Turner and Pino. Turner, 43, of Layton, Utah, was diagnosed two years ago with the chronic disease of the central nervous system. And one of Pino’s in-laws was left in a wheelchair by the illness that affects 400,000 Americans.

“It’s a great story,” said Max Dangelico, Pino’s son and business partner. “Thousands of people will benefit. The MS Society will benefit, and Pino is happy.”

Each Pino print of the new work was worth $1,450, according to Dangelico. They will be distributed through galleries nationwide, with all the money after expenses going to the MS Society.

Turner has already raised $50,000 herself by selling Pino’s works in her home state and soliciting matching funds for each purchase from local businesses.

Born in Italy, Pino came to the United States in 1979, quickly establishing himself as a key artist of romance novels covers, eventually illustrating more than 3,000 books and working with a then-unknown model named Fabio.

Officials at the MS Society were ecstatic about the whole chain of events.

“What Corinne has done is turn lemons into lemon meringue pie,” said Arney Rosenblat, spokeswoman for the MS Society. “It really, really is very exciting.”

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On the Net:

National Multiple Sclerosis Society: http://www.nationalmssociety.com

Pino’s artwork: http://www.classicpublicationsinc.com

AP-ES-07-23-03 0320EDT