PARIS — Art enthusiasts have just hours left to enter a unique lottery where a single winner will walk away with a Pablo Picasso masterpiece for under $120.
The French charity raffle gives participants the opportunity to claim a million-dollar portrait created by the renowned Spanish artist for just 100 euros ($117), with all money raised supporting Alzheimer’s disease research. The winner will be selected Tuesday evening at Christie’s auction house in Paris.
This marks the third edition of the “1 Picasso for 100 euros” charitable lottery, featuring Picasso’s “Head of a Woman.” All funds generated will benefit Alzheimer’s research initiatives.
The artwork, created using gouache on paper, dates back to 1941 when Picasso completed it.
The inaugural raffle in 2013 resulted in a Pennsylvania fire-sprinkler business employee claiming “Man in the Opera Hat,” a piece the Spanish master created in 1914 during his renowned Cubist era.
In 2020, the oil-on-canvas work “Still Life” went to Claudia Borgogno, an Italian accountant whose son purchased the winning ticket as her Christmas gift.
That 1921 painting was acquired for the raffle from billionaire art collector David Nahmad, who told the Associated Press that Picasso would have supported raffling his creations. The artist passed away in 1973.
The Alzheimer Research Foundation, which organizes these charitable raffles, operates from one of Paris’ premier public hospitals and claims to be France’s top private supporter of Alzheimer-related medical research since establishing operations in 2004.
According to the organizers’ digital sales platform, Tuesday’s drawing is limited to 120,000 tickets, potentially generating 12 million euros ($14 million) if completely sold out.
From those proceeds, 1 million euros will go to the Opera Gallery, the international art dealer that currently owns the painting.
The two earlier Picasso lotteries generated more than 10 million euros combined for cultural initiatives in Lebanon and water and sanitation projects across Africa, organizers reported.
