An engineer and art enthusiast has become the fortunate recipient of an original Pablo Picasso painting, valued at over €1 million (approximately £870,000 or $1.2 million). The artwork was awarded through a charity raffle.
Ari Hodara, 58, learned of his win on Tuesday, receiving a video call from Christie’s auction house in Paris. His initial reaction was one of disbelief, asking, “How do I know this isn’t a prank?” upon being informed he was now the owner of the 1941 masterpiece.
The charitable draw saw more than 120,000 tickets sold, each priced at €100 (£87 or $118). This initiative successfully raised approximately €11 million (£10 million or $13 million) designated for Alzheimer’s research.
This marked the third installment of the “1 Picasso for 100 euros” fundraising raffle, a concept initiated in 2013. The artwork presented as this year’s prize was “Tête de Femme” (Head of a Woman), a gouache-on-paper portrait characteristic of Picasso’s distinctive style. The work is a depiction of Dora Maar, his partner and muse, who was herself a French surrealist artist.
Speaking after the draw, Hodara described his response to winning as simply surprised. “When you bet on this, you don’t expect to win,” he admitted during a phone conversation with auctioneers. He added, “But I’m very happy because I’m very interested in painting, and it’s great news for me.”
Hodara’s winning ticket bore the number 94,715. He mentioned purchasing it over the weekend, having encountered information about the competition serendipitously.
The raffle was orchestrated by French journalist Peri Cochin, with the endorsement of both Picasso’s family and his associated foundation. Cochin expressed satisfaction that the winner resided in Paris, despite tickets being available in numerous countries globally. “It’s going to be very easy for us to deliver the painting, so we’re happy,” she stated.
Paris holds significant resonance as Picasso spent a substantial portion of his life living and working there. The city’s museums house thousands of his paintings, prints, and sculptures, offering extensive public display of his work.
Of the total funds generated, €1 million is allocated to the Opera Gallery, the previous owner of the painting. The remaining proceeds will be contributed to France’s Alzheimer’s Research Foundation. Olivier de Ladoucette, head of the foundation, was reported by AFP as saying, “This Picasso initiative is one more building block so that one day Alzheimer’s will be nothing more than a bad memory.”
The inaugural edition of this raffle, held in 2013, saw a 25-year-old American from Pennsylvania emerge as the winner. Funds raised then were directed toward the preservation of the Lebanese city of Tyre, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The second raffle, conducted in 2020, was won by a 58-year-old Italian accountant whose son had purchased a ticket for her as a Christmas gift. The proceeds from that draw supported sanitation projects in schools and villages across Cameroon, Madagascar, and Morocco.