Parisian man wins €1m Picasso painting in €100 charity raffle for Alzheimer’s research
Consensus Summary
A Parisian man, Ari Hodara, won a €1 million Pablo Picasso painting (*Tête de Femme*, 1941) in a €100 charity raffle held at Christie’s on April 15, 2026. The third iteration of the ‘1 Picasso for €100’ lottery sold all 120,000 tickets, raising €12 million, with €11 million donated to Alzheimer’s research. Hodara, an art enthusiast, initially doubted the win, calling organizers to confirm. The raffle follows two prior editions in 2013 and 2020, which raised over €10 million for cultural and humanitarian causes. Picasso’s work was acquired by Opera Gallery at a discounted rate, with proceeds split between the gallery and research. Organizers emphasized the event’s alignment with Picasso’s legacy of accessibility, as cited by collector David Nahmad.
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Key details reported by multiple sources:
- Ari Hodara, a 58-year-old Parisian software engineer, won Pablo Picasso’s *Tête de Femme* (1941) gouache-on-paper portrait worth €1m with a €100 raffle ticket.
- The raffle was held at Christie’s auction house in Paris on 2026-04-15 at 6pm local time, with the draw conducted online.
- All 120,000 raffle tickets were sold, generating €12m in proceeds (€1m to Opera Gallery, €11m to Fondation Recherche Alzheimer).
- The raffle is the third edition of ‘1 Picasso for €100,’ launched in 2013, with prior winners including Jeffrey Gonano (2013) and Claudia Borgogno (2020).
- The 2013 raffle raised €4.8m for UNESCO site preservation in Tyre, Lebanon; the 2020 raffle funded sanitation projects in Cameroon, Madagascar, and Morocco.
- Hodara initially doubted the win, asking organizers, ‘How do I know this isn’t a prank?’
Points of Difference
Details reported by only one source:
- Hodara described himself as an ‘art amateur fond of Picasso’ and bought his ticket after learning about the raffle ‘by chance during a restaurant meal.’
- Picasso’s grandson, Olivier Widmaier Picasso, stated the 1941 work reflects ‘the sombre mood of the era, while also suggesting hope.’
- The raffle’s first prize (2013) was *The Man in the Opera Hat* (1914), and the second (2020) was *Nature Morte* (1921).
- Opera Gallery founder Gilles Dyan offered the painting at a ‘preferential price’ (public value €1.45m).
- Billionaire art collector David Nahmad argued Picasso would have approved of raffling his work, citing Picasso’s habit of gifting art to ‘his driver, his tailor.’
- The raffle’s online sales platform capped tickets at 120,000, with proceeds benefiting the Alzheimer’s Research Foundation at Paris’s leading public hospital.
Contradictions
Conflicting information between sources:
- ABC states Hodara is a ‘software engineer,’ while Guardian describes him as a ‘sales engineer’—no other source confirms either title.
Source Articles
Parisian man scoops 1-million-euro Picasso painting in raffle
A man from Paris has won a Picasso painting worth 1 million euros ($1.6 million) with a 100-euro raffle ticket.
€1m Picasso painting to be won for €100 in charity raffle
Number of tickets to win Tête de Femme will be capped at 120,000 and proceeds will go to Alzheimer’s research A raffle in France is offering the chance to win a portrait by Pablo Picasso for the price of a €100 (£87) ticket, with proceeds going to Alzheimer’s research. Picasso painted the gouache-on-paper Tête de Femme (Head of a Woman) in 1941. The raffle organisers’ online sales platform says the number of tickets will be capped at 120,000, meaning the draw could net €12m if they are all sold.
Paris art enthusiast wins €1m Picasso painting in €100 charity raffle
Ari Hodara bought his ticket at the weekend after finding out about the raffle by chance while dining out A Parisian art enthusiast could not believe his luck when he found out on Tuesday he had won a Pablo Picasso painting worth more than €1m with a €100 raffle ticket. “How do I check that it’s not a hoax?” said Ari Hodara, 58, after organisers called him following the draw at Christie’s auction house in the French capital. Continue reading...