Praemium Imperiale
The Praemium Imperiale is an international art prize inaugurated in 1988 and awarded since 1989 by the Imperial family of Japan on behalf of the Japan Art Association in the fields of painting, sculpture, architecture, music, and theatre/film.
The prize consists of a gold medal and 15 million Japanese yen, and was created by the Fujisankei Communications Group, which pays the expenses of around $3 million per year. The prizes are awarded for outstanding contributions to the development, promotion and progress of the arts.
Information
The Praemium Imperiale is awarded in the memory of His Imperial Highness Prince Takamatsu, younger brother of Emperor Shōwa who reigned from 1926 through 1989. Prince Takamatsu was famous for his longtime support of the development, promotion and progress of arts in the world.The laureates are announced each September; the prize presentation ceremony and related events are held in Tokyo, Japan, each November. The prize presentation ceremony is held in the presence of His Imperial Highness Prince Hitachi, President of the Japan Art Association, at the in Tokyo. Prince Hitachi presents the prizes to the selected laureates. The prize consists of a gold medal and 15 million Japanese yen, and was created by the Fujisankei Communications Group, which pays the expenses of around $3 million per year.
The laureates are annually recommended by international advisers, and decided by an anonymous committee of the Japan Art Association. The advisers include Yasuhiro Nakasone, William H. Luers, Lamberto Dini, François Pinault, Chris Patten, and Klaus-Dieter Lehmann. Honorary advisers include Jacques Chirac, David Rockefeller, David Rockefeller, Jr., Helmut Schmidt and Richard von Weizsäcker.
Table of laureates
| Year | Painting | Sculpture | Architecture | Music | Film/Theater |
| 2019 | William Kentridge | Mona Hatoum | Tod Williams and Billie Tsien | Anne-Sophie Mutter | Bando Tamasaburo |
| 2018 | Pierre Alechinsky | Fujiko Nakaya | Christian de Portzamparc | Riccardo Muti | Catherine Deneuve |
| 2017 | Shirin Neshat | El Anatsui | Rafael Moneo | Youssou N’Dour | Mikhail Baryshnikov |
| 2016 | Cindy Sherman | Annette Messager | Paulo Mendes da Rocha | Gidon Kremer | Martin Scorsese |
| 2015 | Tadanori Yokoo | Wolfgang Laib | Dominique Perrault | Mitsuko Uchida | Sylvie Guillem |
| 2014 | Martial Raysse | Giuseppe Penone | Steven Holl | Arvo Pärt | Athol Fugard |
| 2013 | Michelangelo Pistoletto | Antony Gormley | David Chipperfield | Plácido Domingo | Francis Ford Coppola |
| 2012 | Cai Guo-Qiang | :it:Cecco Bonanotte|Cecco Bonanotte | Henning Larsen | Philip Glass | Yoko Morishita |
| 2011 | Bill Viola | Anish Kapoor | Ricardo Legorreta | Seiji Ozawa | Judi Dench |
| 2010 | Enrico Castellani | Rebecca Horn | Toyo Ito | Maurizio Pollini | Sophia Loren |
| 2009 | Hiroshi Sugimoto | Richard Long | Zaha Hadid | Alfred Brendel | Tom Stoppard |
| 2008 | Richard Hamilton | Ilya and Emilia Kabakov | Peter Zumthor | Zubin Mehta | Sakata Tōjūrō |
| 2007 | Daniel Buren | Tony Cragg | Herzog & de Meuron | Daniel Barenboim | Ellen Stewart |
| 2006 | Yayoi Kusama | Christian Boltanski | Frei Otto | Steve Reich | Maya Plisetskaya |
| 2005 | Robert Ryman | Issey Miyake | Yoshio Taniguchi | Martha Argerich | Merce Cunningham |
| 2004 | Georg Baselitz | Bruce Nauman | Oscar Niemeyer | Krzysztof Penderecki | Abbas Kiarostami |
| 2003 | Bridget Riley | Mario Merz | Rem Koolhaas | Claudio Abbado | Ken Loach |
| 2002 | Sigmar Polke | Giuliano Vangi | Norman Foster | Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau | Jean-Luc Godard |
| 2001 | Lee Ufan | Marta Pan | Jean Nouvel | Ornette Coleman | Arthur Miller |
| 2000 | Ellsworth Kelly | Niki de Saint Phalle | Richard Rogers | Hans Werner Henze | Stephen Sondheim |
| 1999 | Anselm Kiefer | Louise Bourgeois | Fumihiko Maki | Oscar Peterson | Pina Bausch |
| 1998 | Robert Rauschenberg | Dani Karavan | Álvaro Siza | Sofia Gubaidulina | Richard Attenborough |
| 1997 | Gerhard Richter | George Segal | Richard Meier | Ravi Shankar | Peter Brook |
| 1996 | Cy Twombly | César | Tadao Ando | Luciano Berio | Andrzej Wajda |
| 1995 | Matta | Christo | Renzo Piano | Andrew Lloyd Webber | Nakamura Utaemon VI |
| 1994 | Zao Wou-ki | Richard Serra | Charles Correa | Henri Dutilleux | John Gielgud |
| 1993 | Jasper Johns | Max Bill | Kenzo Tange | Mstislav Rostropovich | Maurice Béjart |
| 1992 | Pierre Soulages | Anthony Caro | Frank Gehry | Alfred Schnittke | Akira Kurosawa |
| 1991 | Balthus | Eduardo Chillida | Gae Aulenti | György Ligeti | Ingmar Bergman |
| 1990 | Antoni Tàpies | Arnaldo Pomodoro | James Stirling | Leonard Bernstein | Federico Fellini |
| 1989 | Willem de Kooning and David Hockney | Umberto Mastroianni | I. M. Pei | Pierre Boulez | Marcel Carné |
Grants for Young Artists
Since 1997, a series of grants have been made to organizations which nourish young artists.- 2019 Démos
- 2018 Shakespeare Schools Foundation
- 2017 Zoukak Theatre Company and Cultural Association, Lebanon
- 2016 Five Arts Centre, Malaysia
- 2015 Yangon Film School, Myanmar/Germany
- 2014 The Zinsou Foundation, Benin
- 2013 The JuniOrchestra of Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome
- 2012 The Sphinx Organization, USA
- 2011 Southbank Sinfonia and The Royal Court Young Writers Programme
- 2010 Asian Youth Orchestra
- 2009 Kremerata Baltica, Latvia/Lithuania/Estonia
- 2008 Italian Youth Orchestra, Italy
- 2007 West-Eastern Divan Orchestra
- 2006 State Foundation of the National System of Youth and Children's Orchestras of Venezuela
- 2005 Kusatsu International Summer Music Academy, Japan
- 2004 Young Sound Forum of Central Europe
- 2003 De Sono Associazione per la Musica, Italy
- 2002 European Union Youth Orchestra
- 2001 Résidence du Festival, France
- 2000 Ulster Youth Orchestra, Northern Ireland
- 1999 Instituto Superior de Arte, Cuba
- 1998 Polish National Film, Television and Theater School, Poland
- 1997 Hanoi Conservatory of Music, Vietnam