A Paris-based sales engineer has become the unlikely owner of a $1 million Pablo Picasso painting after buying a $117 raffle ticket just days before the draw.
The winning ticket according to AP, was announced Tuesday at Christie’s auction house in Paris, leaving 58-year-old Ari Hodara stunned. His first reaction captured the disbelief: “How do I check that it’s not a hoax?”
Hodara, who describes himself as an art enthusiast rather than a collector, said he came across the raffle by chance while dining at a restaurant over the weekend. Acting on impulse, he purchased a ticket, one of 120,000 sold globally.
“First, I will tell the news to my wife, who has yet to return from work,” he said. “And at first, I think I’ll take advantage of it and keep it.”
The prize is “Head of a Woman,” a 1941 gouache-on-paper portrait by Pablo Picasso. The artwork features Dora Maar, the artist’s longtime muse and partner during a turbulent period in his life.
The raffle forms part of the “1 Picasso for 100 euros” initiative, now in its third edition. This year’s campaign focused on raising funds for Alzheimer’s research. Organizers confirmed the ticket sales generated 12 million euros (about $14 million), with proceeds supporting scientific work in the field.
A portion of the funds, 1 million euros will go to Opera Gallery, the international art dealer that owned the painting. Founder Gilles Dyan said the piece was offered at a reduced rate, noting its public market value stands at 1.45 million euros.
This is not the first time a Picasso masterpiece has been awarded through a lottery. In 2013, a Pennsylvania man working in a fire-sprinkler business won “Man in the Opera Hat,” a 1914 Cubist work. Seven years later, an Italian accountant, Claudia Borgogno, received “Still Life,” a 1921 painting gifted through a ticket purchased by her son.
The raffle’s organizer, the Alzheimer Research Foundation, operates from one of Paris’s leading public hospitals. Since its founding in 2004, the organization says it has grown into France’s top private funder of Alzheimer-related medical research.
Earlier editions of the raffle raised over 10 million euros combined, supporting projects ranging from cultural initiatives in Lebanon to water and hygiene programs across Africa.
For Hodara, the outcome still feels unreal. A casual decision over a weekend meal has turned into ownership of a museum-level masterpiece, one he says he plans to keep, at least for now.
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