A man has won an original Pablo Picasso painting worth more than €1 million (£870,000; $1.2 million) in a charity raffle.
Ari Hodara, an engineer and art enthusiast, learned he was the winner on Tuesday when he answered a video call from Christie's auction house in Paris.
How do I know this isn't a prank? the 58-year-old asked when told he was the new owner of the 1941 work by the Spanish master.
Organisers stated that more than 120,000 tickets for the prize draw were sold at €100 (£87; $118) each, raising around €11 million (£10 million; $13 million) for Alzheimer's research.
The draw was the third edition of the 1 Picasso for 100 euros fundraising raffle, founded in 2013.
This year's prize was Tête de Femme (Head of a Woman), a gouache-on-paper portrait rendered in Picasso's signature style, depicting his partner and muse, French surrealist artist Dora Maar.
I was surprised, that's it, Hodara said during a phone call with auctioneers after the draw. When you bet on this, you don't expect to win... But I'm very happy because I'm very interested in painting, and it's great news for me.
Hodara's ticket was number 94,715. He purchased it over the weekend after learning about the competition by chance.
French journalist Peri Cochin organised the raffle with backing from Picasso's family and foundation. She stated it was a great thing that the winner lived in Paris despite tickets being sold in dozens of countries worldwide.
Of the money raised, €1 million is set to go to the Opera Gallery, the painting's owner, with the remaining funds benefiting France's Alzheimer's Research Foundation. This Picasso initiative is one more building block so that one day Alzheimer's will be nothing more than a bad memory, said Olivier de Ladoucette, the foundation's head.
