His work is consistently ranked among the world’s most expensive art, with paintings fetching more than a $100m at auction. But you no longer need to be a multimillionaire to own a Picasso – for €100, anyone in the world has the chance to walk away with a painting by one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.
The French charity Alzheimer’s Research Foundation announced recently it was raffling Picasso’s 1941 portrait, Tête de femme, which is worth more than €1m, to a single winner. Proceeds from the tickets will help fund Alzheimer’s research, one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide.
The project, entitled “1 Picasso for 100 Euros”, is the first of its kind in the world, and a natural continuation of Picasso’s legacy, according to his grandson Olivier Picasso.
“My grandfather was very generous, but he was also discreet,” Olivier told the Guardian. “He helped his family, especially my grandmother Marie-Thérèse [Walter]. He helped friends. He helped people in need during the civil war in Spain, during the second world war, and even after, in the 50s and 60s.
Olivier Picasso, grandson of the artist, poses next to Tête de femme. Photograph: Benoît Tessier/Reuters
“So for me, this project is an absolutely logical and legitimate part of his legacy. I hope in the future to be able to do this every year if possible.”
The raffle is the brainchild of Péri Cochin, a French television producer and owner of the tableware company Waww La Table. Cochin came up with the idea after seeing her mother use them at fundraising events she hosted.
“I thought, wouldn’t it be great to do a worldwide raffle, by selling tickets online? I decided it should be a piece of art, and what is the most famous name in art? Obviously, it’s Picasso,” she said.
Cochin contacted Olivier Picasso, a childhood friend of hers. When he and the rest of the Picasso administration and the Picasso estate gave their approval, she reserved the 1941 painting from the Opera gallery, which will receive just under €1m after the draw.
“We are used to hearing about Picasso and these high-priced auctions, but this was the first time where Picasso was really related to a charity,” she said.
Olivier said the family “had an instant connection with the project”, not least because the money raised is going to a good cause. There is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, and no treatment that can stop or reverse its progression. “Now that we are living older than before, we or people around us could be affected by this disease. And I know how difficult and painful it is,” he added.
The goal is to sell 120,00 tickets, raising €11m for Alzheimer’s research. The draw is scheduled to take place at Christie’s auction house in Paris on 14 April. If not enough tickets are sold to cover the cost of the painting, all participants will be reimbursed.
Olivier said Tête de femme was a “very interesting” work that was painted in the same studio in the Left Bank in Paris as Picasso’s 1937 masterpiece Guernica. “The period was important for my grandfather, because he was at the end of a process to divorce his first wife, Olga Khokhlova – a divorce that never happened because Franco abolished the divorce law [in 1939], despite meeting my grandmother and Dora Maar.
“The period was also very complicated because of the occupation of Paris by the Nazis. And so the colours are darker than usual, with brown, black, and grey. While it’s a beautiful depiction of a woman, there is still the ambience of Picasso. My grandfather kept the painting as a souvenir of the moment.”
Cochin has organised two previous raffles for Picasso paintings, in 2013 and 2020, raising a total of more than €10m. The first winner was 25-year-old Jeffrey Gonano, who became the owner of a Picasso drawing valued at €860,000. “He put the painting in the Museum of Pittsburg for a while, and now it’s in storage at Christie’s in New York, because he didn’t want to keep it at home,” she said.
The second winner was Claudia Borgogno, an accountant from Ventimiglia, Italy, whose son had given her a raffle ticket for Christmas. She became the owner of a 1921 Picasso valued at €1m.
“She still has the painting, she said it would change her life. It’s a really beautiful story,” Cochin added.
