A Paris-based art lover was stunned to learn he had won a Pablo Picasso painting valued at around $1 million after purchasing a raffle ticket for just $117.
Ari Hodara, 58, said he was initially skeptical when organisers contacted him following the drawing held Tuesday at Christie’s in Paris.
“My first thought was: how can I be sure this isn’t some kind of scam?” he said.
Hodara, who works as a sales engineer and describes himself as a casual admirer of Picasso, said he only discovered the charity raffle by chance while dining out over the weekend. On a whim, he decided to buy a ticket.
“I’ll start by telling my wife when she gets home,” he said. “At least for now, I think I’ll enjoy it and keep the painting.”
This latest edition of the “1 Picasso for 100 euros” lottery featured “Head of a Woman,” a 1941 gouache portrait of Dora Maar, Picasso’s muse and partner.
The online raffle gave participants worldwide a shot at owning the artwork while supporting Alzheimer’s research.
All 120,000 tickets were sold, raising about 12 million euros ($14 million).
Of that total, 1 million euros will go to Opera Gallery, the international dealer that owned the piece. Founder Gilles Dyan noted the artwork was offered below its market value, which he estimated at 1.45 million euros.
The initiative follows two earlier raffles. In 2013, a man from Pennsylvania working in a fire-sprinkler company won “Man in the Opera Hat,” painted in 1914 during Picasso’s Cubist phase.
In 2020, an Italian accountant, Claudia Borgogno, won a 1921 still-life painting after her son bought her a ticket as a Christmas gift.
That earlier artwork had been acquired from billionaire collector David Nahmad, who told The Associated Press he believed Picasso would have supported the idea of raffling his work.
The lottery is organised by the Alzheimer Research Foundation, based at a major Paris public hospital.
Since its founding in 2004, the foundation says it has become France’s largest private contributor to Alzheimer’s research funding.
According to organisers, the two previous raffles together raised over 10 million euros, benefiting cultural preservation efforts in Lebanon as well as water and sanitation programs across Africa.
