For the value of a dinner in Paris, any individual will quickly stroll away with a Picasso valued at greater than $1 million.
The “1 Picasso for 100 euros” raffle gives entrants the prospect to take residence the artist’s 1941 gouache “Tête de Femme.” The worth of a ticket is — because the identify of the competition suggests — 100 euros, or about $116.
A whole of 120,000 tickets can be found for the drawing on April 14. Proceeds will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Research Foundation, which helps medical analysis into the illness throughout Europe.
This is the third version of the marketing campaign. The first “1 Picasso for 100 euros” was held in 2013, with funds donated to the preservation of Tyre, a historic metropolis in Southern Lebanon. A second edition in 2020 supported clear water and hygiene applications throughout the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Olivier Widmaier Picasso, grandson of the legendary Spanish artist, advised NCS’s Paula Newton that his grandfather created “Tête de Femme” in the identical studio the place he painted his masterpiece “Guernica.”
He stated he believed the work is being undervalued. “It’s worth much more than $1 million,” Widmaier Picasso stated, “so it will be really a big prize.”
Picassos have fetched staggering sums at public sale prior to now. “Les Femmes d’Alger (Version ‘O’)” sold for greater than $179 million in 2015.
The Opera Gallery, which donated the portray, says Pablo Picasso was in Paris when he painted “Tête de Femme.” World War II was raging throughout Europe and far of France was below German occupation.
“Tête de Femme” is about 15 inches tall and 10 inches huge. The girl’s expression, painted in several shades of grey, is deliberately distorted in Picasso’s signature Cubist model. The Opera Gallery says the gouache displays a second of introspection and concentrated studio work for the artist.
Widmaier Picasso says {that a} buddy of his got here up with the “1 Picasso for 100 euros” initiative.
“She thought it was a modern vision of charity by offering people the option to get a real artwork of my grandfather and to participate in humanitarian operations,” he stated.
Widmaier Picasso believes his grandfather would assist “1 Picasso for 100 euros.”
“My grandfather was a pioneer in many ways,” he stated. “I think that he was always very interested in participating in new things. I would say that today he would have been interested in video or maybe in artificial intelligence.”
Widmaier Picasso says whoever wins “Tête de Femme” is free to do no matter they want with it. The winner of the primary contest, for instance, determined to show their prize in a museum.
“Anyone can do what they want,” he stated. “They can keep it in the living room, they can show it in an exhibition — or they can resell it.”
Widmaier Picasso stated his grandfather would agree with letting the winner determine, as a result of that’s how he operated.
He stated his grandmother, Marie-Thérèse Walter, who was solely 17 years previous when Picasso started a romantic relationship together with her, was showered with artwork. The artist was in his mid-forties on the time, married with a younger son.
Marie-Thérèse Walter’s options appeared in Picasso’s work over the following decade. Widmaier Picasso says his grandfather repaid her for the years of inspiration.
“When my grandfather was giving artworks, it was forever,” he stated. “It was a decision – you do what you want with it. Pablo gave a lot of artworks to his lady, and she kept everything until she died. So I’m offering all options.”