[caption id="attachment_13407" align="alignnone" width="560" caption="Bill Viola at his study in Long Beach"][/caption]
The Japan Art Association announced the 2011 winners of the Praemium Imperiale arts awards on Monday July 11.
The Praemium Imperiale is a global arts prize that is awarded by the Japan Art Association. Since initiating in 1989 to honor the 100th anniversary of the Japan Art Association and to honor the late Prince Takamatsu, the Praemium Imperiale has become an important recognizer of the arts. An award is given annually in each of the five fields including Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Music, and Theatre/Film. The awards are for lifetime achievement in the arts in categories not covered by the Nobel Prizes.
The 2011 Praemium Imperiale Laureates are Bill Viola (USA) for Painting, Anish Kapoor (UK) for Sculpture, Ricardo Legorreta (Mexico) for Architecture, Seiji Ozawa (Japan) for Music, and Judi Dench (UK) for Theatre/Film.
The award announcement in London was the first time Prince Hitachi and Princess Hitachi have left Japan since the March tsunami. After the announcement, Prince and Princess Hitachi and British Laureates Dame Judi Dench and Anish Kapoor were received by Queen Elizabeth II at a congratulatory reception in Buckingham Palace.
The Praemium Imperiale awards ceremony will take place in Tokyo on October 19, where award recipients will receive gold medals and diplomas from His Imperial Highness Prince Hitachi, honorary patron of the Japan Art Association.
American Advisor for the awards, William H. Luers, remarked, “Over the past 23 years the Praemium Imperiale awards have grown to become a powerful symbol of the importance of the arts in the global community.” He continued, “We are honored to recognize this year’s distinguished group of Laureates for their outstanding achievements and life-long pursuit of excellence.”
Previous recipients of the Praemium Imperiale have included Leonard Bernstein, Lee Ufan, Sophia Loren, Peter Brook, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Norman Foster, Frank Gehry, Jean-Luc Godard, David Hockney, Arthur Miller, and Robert Rauschenberg.
[caption id="attachment_13408" align="alignnone" width="487" caption="Anish Kapoor in his studio in London"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_13409" align="alignnone" width="498" caption="Ricardo Legorreta"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_13410" align="alignnone" width="560" caption="Seiji Ozawa"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_13411" align="alignnone" width="559" caption="Judi Dench at her home in Surry, south of London"][/caption]
All images courtesy of Japan Art Association.
