For a modest sum that does not exceed the cost of a dinner at a Parisian restaurant, a lucky winner will soon have the chance to acquire an original painting by artist Pablo Picasso, valued at over a million dollars.
After organizers launched a raffle titled "Picasso for 100 Euros", participants are granted the opportunity to win the painting "Woman's Head" (Tête de Femme) painted by the Spanish artist in 1941. The price of the raffle ticket is 100 euros, equivalent to about 116 US dollars.
For the benefit of Alzheimer's research
Organizers, according to the "Opera Gallery" website, have offered 120,000 tickets for the draw scheduled for April 14, with all proceeds going to the "Alzheimer's Research Foundation" to support clinical studies on the disease in Europe.
This is the third version of the initiative, where profits from the first version in 2013 were allocated to the restoration of the historical city of Tyre in Lebanon, while the profits from the second version in 2020 were directed to funding water and sanitation programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Olivier Widmaier Picasso, the grandson of the late artist, told reporters that his grandfather painted "Woman's Head" in the same studio that witnessed the birth of his famous painting "Guernica".
He added that the estimated value of the painting may be less than its actual worth, saying: "It is worth much more than a million dollars, so it will be an exceptional prize."
The painting "Woman's Head" dates back to the period when Picasso was living in Paris under German occupation during World War II, and the painting embodies the Cubist style for which he was famous, through deliberately distorted features with gray shadows reflecting a state of internal contemplation.
Picasso's grandson confirmed that the winner has complete freedom to deal with the prize, whether to keep it, display it in a museum, or resell it, noting that his grandfather embraced the same philosophy in giving his artworks.
