A Picasso painting worth 1 million euros is for sale for 100 euros in a charity auction Pablo Picasso

His works are consistently ranked among the most expensive works of art in the world, with his paintings reaching more than $100 million at auctions. But you no longer need to be a millionaire to own a Picasso painting – for 100 euros, anyone in the world has the opportunity to own a painting by one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.

The French charity Alzheimer’s Research recently announced that it will raffle off Picasso’s 1941 painting “Tête de femme,” worth more than one million euros, for one winner. Ticket proceeds will help fund research into Alzheimer’s disease, one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide.

The project, titled “1 Picasso for 100 Euros,” is considered 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 reserved,” Olivier told The Guardian. He helped his family, especially my grandmother Marie-Thérèse [Walter]. Friends helped. He helped those in need during the Civil War in Spain, during World War II, and even after, in the 1950s and 1960s.

“For me, this project is a completely logical and legitimate part of his legacy. I hope that in the future I will be able to do this every year if possible.”

This raffle is the brainchild of Perry Cochin, a French TV producer and owner of the tableware company Waww La Table. Cochin came up with the idea after seeing her mother using it at fundraising events she hosted.

“I thought, wouldn’t it be great to do a global raffle, by selling tickets online? I decided it had to be a piece of art, and what’s the most famous name in art? Obviously it’s Picasso,” she said.

Cochin contacted Olivier Picasso, her childhood friend. When he and the rest of Picasso’s management and Picasso’s heirs gave their approval, she kept the 1941 painting from the opera exhibition, which will go for just under €1 million after the raffle.

“We’re used to hearing about Picasso and these expensive auctions, but this was the first time Picasso was associated with a charity,” she said.

Olivier said the family was “immediately connected to the project”, not least because the money raised would go to a good cause. There is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, and no treatment that can stop or reverse its progression. He added: “Now that we live larger than before, we or the people around us can be affected by this disease. I know how difficult and painful it is.”

The goal is to sell 120,000 tickets and raise €11 million for Alzheimer’s research. The raffle is scheduled to take place at Christie’s Auction House in Paris on April 14. If not enough tickets are sold to cover the cost of the panel, all participants will be reimbursed.

“Tête de femme” was a “very interesting” work painted in the same Left Bank studio in Paris as Picasso’s 1937 masterpiece Guernica, Olivier said. “This period was important for my grandfather, because he was at the end of the divorce proceedings from his first wife, Olga Khokhlova, a divorce that never happened because Franco abolished the divorce law.” [in 1939]Although I met my grandmother and Dora Maar.

“The period was also very complicated due to the Nazi occupation of Paris. Thus the colors are darker than usual, with brown, black and grey. While it is a beautiful depiction of women, there is still a Picasso vibe. My grandfather kept the painting as a memento of this moment.

Cochin organized two previous drawings of Picasso paintings, in 2013 and 2020, which raised a total of more than 10 million euros. The first winner was 25-year-old Geoffrey Gounano, who became the owner of a Picasso painting worth 860,000 euros. “He put the painting in the Pittsburgh Museum 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 gave her a lottery ticket for Christmas. She became the owner of a Picasso in 1921 worth one million euros.

“She still has the painting and said it would change her life. It’s a really beautiful story,” Cochin added.