The Praemium Imperiale
Posted by: Rebecca Vnuk
According to its website, “The Premium Imperiale is a global arts prize awarded annually by the Japan Art Association. Since its inauguration in 1989 it has become a mark of the highest international distinction for achievement in the arts.” The prize is in honor of Prince Takamatsu, and it is awarded in five categories: painting, sculpture, architecture, music, and theatre/film. For each winner since 1989, there is a photographic portrait, summary, image gallery, biography, and essay. In most cases there is at least one link to a website, in eighteen cases there is an interview, and in five cases there is a lecture. While entries are sometimes frustratingly brief, the links to official websites help remedy the situation.
This year’s winners, just announced, are Hiroshi Sugimoto (painting), Richard Long (sculpture), Zaha Hadid (architecture), Alfred Brendel (music), and Top Stoppard (theatre/film). The categories (at least as traditionally conceived) cannot contain these artists. Sugimoto, for instance, is not a painter at all; he is, however, my favorite photographer. Long is best known for creating arrangements of wood or stones encountered on his long, solitary walks; I have often wondered if the curious arrangement of stones upon a plinth my wife and I encountered on Kyoto’s Mount Hiei was Long’s doing. Hadid was long more famous for her unbuilt works than for her actual buildings.
I encourage you to explore this who’s who of artistic excellence.
