The China Mail - Paris engineer wins Picasso painting at charity auction

Ari Hodara, 58, who only bought his ticket at the weekend, was picked at a ceremony in Paris that was livestreamed from auction house Christie's, with the funds raised from the event to be donated to research into Alzheimer's disease.

A total of 120,000 tickets were sold at 100 euros ($118) apiece, with a portrait of Dora Maar, one of Picasso's muses, up for grabs.

Titled "Tête de femme" ("Woman's head"), the inky grey and blue gouache work was painted in 1941 and was purchased from a private art dealership, Opera Gallery.

"How do I know this isn't a prank?" Hodara asked when called from the auction house after being picked from a list of ticket-buyers in 52 countries.

Organisers, led by French journalist Peri Cochin with backing from the painter's family and foundation, put on two similar raffles of the Spanish master's work in 2013 and 2020.

A 25-year-old American from Pennsylvania won the first, while an accountant from Ventimiglia in northwest Italy claimed the second after being given a ticket as a Christmas present by her son.

The 12 million euros raised will be donated to the Alzheimer's Research Foundation.

"The funding for research is ridiculous," head of the foundation, Olivier de Ladoucette, said Tuesday. "In our developed societies, we still haven’t understood that this is a major public health issue and that absolutely everyone needs to get involved.

"This Picasso initiative is one more building block so that one day Alzheimer’s will be nothing more than a bad memory," he added.

A.Sun--ThChM