Frenchman wins Picasso painting worth one million euros in Paris lottery

Launched in 2013, the "1 Picasso for 100 Euros" lottery aims to support humanitarian organizations by giving participants the chance to win an original work by the famous Spanish artist. This was the third edition

6695 views 0 comment(s)
Photo: Reuters
Photo: Reuters
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

A Frenchman has won a Picasso painting worth one million euros in a charity lottery.

The winner, Ari Hodara, a 59-year-old software engineer from Paris, was chosen at random at Christie's auction house in Paris from 120.000 tickets sold, each costing 100 euros. The proceeds from the lottery will go to Alzheimer's research.

"I was surprised, that's all," Hodara said during a phone call with organizers shortly after the draw. "When you play something like this, you don't expect to win."

Launched in 2013, the "1 Picasso for 100 Euros" lottery aims to support humanitarian organizations by giving participants the chance to win an original work by the famous Spanish artist. This was the third edition, Reuters reports.

This year's prize was "Tête de Femme" ("Head of a Woman"), a gouache portrait on paper painted by Pablo Picasso in 1941.

Woman's head
photo: Reuters

Executed in his signature style, the composition in gray, white and cream tones reflects the somber mood of the era, but at the same time hints at hope, said Picasso's grandson, Olivier Widmayer Picasso.

For the first time in the history of this lottery, all 120.000 tickets have been sold, organizers announced. One million euros from the sale will be paid to the international gallery chain Opera Gallery, the current owner of the painting.

Woman's head
photo: Reuters

The remaining proceeds of approximately 11 million euros will be donated to the French Alzheimer's Research Foundation, one of the leading funders of research into this neurodegenerative disease.

The first edition of the lottery in 2013 raised 4,8 million euros, and Picasso's painting "Man with an Opera Hat" went to 25-year-old American Jeffrey Gonnan. The proceeds were intended for the preservation of the Lebanese city of Tyre, a UNESCO site.

In the second edition, in 2020, an Italian woman won Picasso's still life "Nature Morte" with a ticket her son gave her for Christmas. The proceeds were then donated to sanitation infrastructure projects in schools and villages in Cameroon, Madagascar, and Morocco.

See more: