Art News. Vasari Codex

article news schedule Apr 16, 2026 visibility 27 link 9 artists, 1 gallery

French Engineer Snags $1 Million Picasso With $116 Raffle Ticket

French engineer Ari Hodara has won a 1941 Pablo Picasso painting titled 'Tête de Femme' through a charity raffle after purchasing a single €100 ticket. The draw, held at Christie’s Paris, sold 120,000 tickets globally and raised €12 million for the Alzheimer’s Research Foundation. The artwork was sourced from the Opera Gallery, which will receive approximately €1 million of the proceeds.

newspaper Artnet News open_in_new Read original

$120 Raffle Ticket Nets $1.2 Million Picasso

Ari Hodara, a 58-year-old software engineer from Paris, has won Pablo Picasso’s 1941 painting 'Head of a Woman' through a charity raffle. Hodara purchased a single €100 ticket for the '1 Picasso for €100' lottery after seeing an advertisement in a restaurant, eventually beating out 120,000 other participants to claim the work valued at approximately $1.2 million.