Paris Man Wins $1.2M Picasso Painting With $117 Raffle Ticket

Published April 16, 2026

Ari Hodara, a 58-year-old sales engineer from Paris, secured Pablo Picasso's artwork "Head Of A Woman," valued at $1 million, by purchasing a $117 raffle ticket on Tuesday. Upon receiving the call from Christie's auction house confirming his win, Hodara immediately questioned, "How do I verify that this isn’t a scam?"

The art lover had bought his ticket over the weekend after discovering the charity raffle while dining at a restaurant.

All 120,000 tickets were sold globally, generating $13 million to support Alzheimer's research through the third edition of the "1 Picasso for 100 euros" lottery.

Previous raffles held in 2013 and 2020 awarded Picasso pieces to winners located in Pennsylvania and Italy, respectively.