Ari Hodara clutched his phone in disbelief when the call came through. The 59-year-old software engineer from Paris had just won a Pablo Picasso painting worth one million euros in a charity raffle, beating odds of 120,000 to one.
How do I check that it's not a hoax?
Ari Hodara — NPR
The drawing took place Tuesday at Christie's auction house in Paris, where officials selected Hodara's ticket from among 120,000 entries sold at 100 euros each. The raffle raised 12 million euros for Alzheimer's disease research, making it one of the largest art-based charity fundraisers in recent memory.
Hodara's winning ticket represented just one chance in 120,000 — odds comparable to being struck by lightning in a given year. The Parisian art enthusiast had purchased his ticket months earlier, likely forgetting about it until the life-changing phone call arrived.
The Picasso work, whose specific title and creation date were not disclosed in initial reports, joins a select group of artworks that have changed hands through unconventional means. While most million-dollar paintings move through traditional auction houses or private sales, charity raffles offer ordinary collectors a chance at masterpieces typically reserved for wealthy institutions and individuals.
France 24 frames this as a straightforward human interest story, emphasizing the charitable aspect and the winner's genuine surprise. Their coverage focuses on the successful fundraising outcome rather than questioning the raffle's mechanics or broader implications for art markets.