Paris Resident Wins $1.45 Million Picasso in Charity Raffle
A 58-year-old sales engineer from Paris has won a Pablo Picasso painting valued at approximately $1.45 million after purchasing a 100-euro raffle ticket.
The event, the third of its kind, raised 12 million euros for the Alzheimer Research Foundation.
The Winner and the Prize
On Tuesday, Ari Hodara was selected as the winner of the charity raffle. The prize was Pablo Picasso's 1941 gouache-on-paper work titled "Head of a Woman," a portrait of the artist's partner, Dora Maar.
Hodara purchased his winning ticket for 100 euros (approximately $117). According to his statements, he learned about the raffle during a restaurant meal over the weekend and decided to participate.
Upon being notified of his win, Hodara asked, "How do I check that it's not a hoax?"
He described himself as an art amateur fond of Picasso and stated his initial plan was to keep the painting and inform his wife of the news.
Raffle Organization and Proceeds
The draw was conducted online and held at Christie's auction house in Paris. The event was the third "1 Picasso for 100 euros" lottery organized by the Alzheimer Research Foundation, with the stated purpose of raising funds for Alzheimer's disease research.
Organizers reported that all 120,000 available tickets were sold worldwide, generating total revenue of 12 million euros (approximately $14 million). From these proceeds, 1 million euros was allocated to the Opera Gallery, the international art dealership that owned the painting.
Gilles Dyan, founder of the Opera Gallery, stated the painting was offered at a preferential price for the raffle, noting its public market price was listed at 1.45 million euros.
Background on the Charity Raffle Series
This was the third iteration of the Picasso charity lottery:
- 2013: The first raffle awarded Picasso's 1914 painting "Man in the Opera Hat" to a winner from Pennsylvania, USA.
- 2020: The second raffle awarded Picasso's 1921 painting "Still Life" to Claudia Borgogno, an accountant in Italy. The ticket was reported to be a Christmas gift from her son.
The painting for the 2020 raffle was purchased from billionaire art collector David Nahmad. In a past interview, Nahmad stated his belief that Picasso would have approved of his work being raffled.
Organizers stated the two previous raffles raised a combined total of more than 10 million euros.
Those funds were directed toward cultural work in Lebanon and water and hygiene programs in Africa.
The Organizing Foundation
The Alzheimer Research Foundation, which is based in a Paris public hospital, organized the raffles. The foundation states it was founded in 2004 and has since become France's leading private financier of Alzheimer-related medical research.