The 2022 Praemium Imperiale for Painting has been awarded to Giulio Paolini. He will receive this prestigious award on 19 October in Tokyo during an official ceremony with Prince and Princess Hitachi in attendance, along with the other winners: Ai Weiwei (China) for sculpture, Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa of the SANAA firm (Japan) for architecture, Krystian Zimerman (Poland/Switzerland) for music, and Wim Wenders (Germany) for theatre/cinema.
The Praemium Imperiale was established in 1988 by the Japan Art Association, and it is the world’s most important award in the field of the arts, comparable to the Nobel Prize for science and literature.
International artists who have received the Praemium Imperiale in honour of the importance and originality of their contribution include Louise Bourgeois, Daniel Buren, Christo, Tony Cragg, Jasper Johns, Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, Anish Kapoor, William Kentridge, Anselm Kiefer, Richard Long, Bruce Nauman, Sigmar Polke, Robert Rauschenberg, Gerhard Richter, George Segal, Richard Serra, Antoni Tàpies, Cy Twombly and Bill Viola. Italian artists who have been awarded it in the past include Enrico Castellani, Mario Merz, Giuseppe Penone, Michelangelo Pistoletto and Arnaldo Pomodoro.
Giulio Paolini, Turin, 2022
Photo © The Japan Art Association / Archivio Paola Ghirotti