Paris art enthusiast wins €1m Picasso painting in €100 charity raffle

Ari Hodara initially thought it might be a hoax after winning raffle he found out about by chance while dining out A Picasso painting worth more than €1m (£870,000) has been won in a raffle by a software engineer from Paris who thought the whole thing might be a hoax. Ari Hodara learned he was the winner of the raffle on Tuesday when he answered a video call from Christie’s auction house in Paris. “How do I check that it’s not a hoax?” the 58 year-old asked when he was told he was the new owner of the 1941 work by the Spanish master. Hodara described himself as an art amateur fond of Picasso and said he had bought the €100 ticket over the weekend after finding out about the charity raffle by chance during a meal in a restaurant. “First, I will tell the news to my wife, who has yet to return from work,” he said. “And at first I think I’ll take advantage of it and keep it.” The third iteration of the “1 Picasso for €100” lottery, which is in aid of Alzheimer’s research, offered Picasso’s Head of a Woman, a portrait of the artist’s longtime muse and partner Dora Maar painted in 1941. Organisers said all 120,000 tickets had been sold, netting €12m (