Sales Engineer Wins $1 Million Picasso at Paris Raffle
A sales engineer from Paris, Ari Hodara, won a Pablo Picasso painting valued at over one million dollars in a charity raffle held at Christie’s auction house. The 58-year-old amateur art enthusiast bought his ticket after hearing about the event by chance during a meal.
When informed of his win, Hodara was skeptical and questioned if it was real. He purchased the winning ticket alongside numerous others from around the world for 100 euros each – approximately $117.
The raffle featured Picasso’s “Head of a Woman,” painted in 1941, which will be donated to the Opera Gallery, an international art dealership that owned the painting. The charity raised about $14 million for Alzheimer’s research.
Organizers reported that over 120,000 tickets were sold worldwide, netting 12 million euros or approximately $14 million. Of this amount, one million euros will go to the Opera Gallery.
The Alzheimer Research Foundation, which organizes these raffles, is a leading private financier of Alzheimer-related medical research in France since its inception in 2004. The foundation has previously raised over 10 million euros for cultural projects in Lebanon and water and hygiene initiatives in Africa through similar Picasso raffles.”