Picasso Raffle Winner Thought He Was Being Pranked

A Paris-based engineer has unexpectedly turned a €100 raffle entry into a prize worth far more than a million dollars: a rare Picasso painting.

Ari Hodara, 58, joined an international charity draw organized by Christie’s and learned during a video call that his ticket, number 94,715, had been selected. The prize was Tête de Femme (Head of a Woman), a 1941 gouache portrait by Pablo Picasso depicting his muse Dora Maar. The artwork is valued at over $1.2 million.

Hodara said he initially questioned whether the call was real, admitting he had entered the draw on a spontaneous decision after hearing about it over the weekend. He also shared that he was overwhelmed by the outcome, noting his personal interest in art. His immediate plan was simply to inform his wife, who was still at work at the time, before deciding what to do next with the painting.

The initiative, known as the “1 Picasso for 100 euros” raffle, is now in its third edition. All 120,000 tickets were sold across multiple countries, generating nearly $13 million. The majority of the funds will support Alzheimer’s research, while about $1.2 million will go to the artwork’s owner, Opera Gallery. Leaders involved in the project described it as part of ongoing efforts to fund research toward ending Alzheimer’s disease.

Organizers, including journalist Peri Cochin with support from Picasso’s family and foundation, noted that the winner living in Paris made the logistics of delivering the artwork especially simple. They also highlighted that previous editions of the raffle supported different causes, including heritage preservation projects in Lebanon in 2013 and sanitation initiatives in Africa in 2020. Earlier winners have included a young participant in the United States and a recipient in Italy whose ticket was a holiday gift.

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