A Paris-based engineer and art enthusiast, Ari Hodara, has won an original Pablo Picasso painting valued at over €1 million in a charity raffle. The artwork, titled "Tête de Femme" (Head of a Woman), is a 1941 gouache-on-paper portrait depicting Picasso's partner Dora Maar, and Hodara was notified of his win on Tuesday via a video call from Christie's auction house in Paris. The 58-year-old winner initially questioned, "How do I know this isn't a prank?" as he did not expect such a significant prize.

The raffle, named "1 Picasso for 100 euros," is in its third edition since its founding in 2013. Organizers reported that more than 120,000 tickets were sold at €100 each, raising approximately €11 million for Alzheimer's research. Hodara's winning ticket was number 94,715, which he purchased over the weekend after learning about the competition by chance.

French journalist Peri Cochin organized the raffle with backing from Picasso's family and foundation. She remarked that it was a "great thing" the winner resides in Paris, as it simplifies the delivery of the painting. Picasso himself lived and worked in Paris for much of his life, with thousands of his works displayed in the city's museums. Of the funds raised, €1 million will go to the painting's owner, Opera Gallery, while the remainder is donated to France's Alzheimer's Research Foundation.

The foundation's head, Olivier de Ladoucette, told AFP that "This Picasso initiative is one more building block so that one day Alzheimer's will be nothing more than a bad memory." In previous editions: the 2013 raffle was won by a 25-year-old American from Pennsylvania, with proceeds aiding the preservation of the Lebanese city of Tyre, and the 2020 edition was won by a 58-year-old Italian accountant, with funds supporting sanitation projects in schools and villages in Cameroon, Madagascar, and Morocco.

Source: www.bbc.com