PARIS — An Italian woman has been identified as the lucky winner of an oil painting by Pablo Picasso that was offered up in a charity raffle Wednesday.
Raffle organizers identified her as Claudia Borgogno.
Her winning ticket was picked out in an electronic draw at the auction house Christie’s in Paris.
Organizers valued the painting, “Nature Morte,” or Still Life, as being worth 1 million euros ($1.1 million).
“Claudia has won this extraordinary painting tonight that is worth one million and so is a millionaire,” organizer Peri Cochin announced after the winner's name and winning ticket number were displayed on a screen.
The 51,140 tickets sold for 100 euros ($109) each. Proceeds are going to provide water for villagers in Madagascar and Cameroon.
Organizers said the winner ticket was initially bought by someone else in Italy in December and then seemingly given as a gift to the eventual winner.
The painting was provided by billionaire art collector David Nahmad. He will be paid 900,000 euros for the work.
The painting was the smallest of 300 works by Picasso that Nahmad owns, the largest private collection of works by the Spanish artist.
Tickets were bought in more than 100 countries, with the bulk sold in France, the United States, Switzerland and Italy.
The winner of a similar raffle in 2013 was a 25-year-old fire sprinkler worker from Pennsylvania.
The Associated Press
