Installation for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1989 / 2024 Photo: Filip Wolak
On September 8, the Japan Art Association announced the 2026 Praemium Imperiale laureates in Tokyo, Paris, Rome, Berlin, New York, and London. The laureates of the award’s 37th edition are Jenny Holzer (painting), Andy Goldsworthy (sculpture), Daniel Libeskind (architecture), Herbert Blomstedt (music), and Cate Blanchett (theatre/film). Recognized for their outstanding achievements in the arts and their contributions to enriching the global community, each laureate will receive an honorarium of 15 million yen and a testimonial letter, and will be presented with a medal by Prince Hitachi, Honorary Patron of the Japan Art Association, at the Awards Ceremony to be held at the Meiji Kinenkan in Tokyo on October 28.
Andy Goldsworthy, Storm King Wall, New Windsor, New York State, U.S.A., 1997–1998 Photo: Andy Goldsworthy Courtesy of Andy Goldsworthy
Kö-Bogen, Düsseldorf, Germany, 2013 Photo: Roland Horn © The Japan Art Association
Jenny Holzer (b. 1950, Gallipolis, Ohio) has challenged the conventions of traditional art since the late 1970s, when her Truisms and Inflammatory Essays were first posted anonymously around New York City, and received the Leone d’Oro grand prize for best pavilion at the 44th Venice Biennale in 1990. Andy Goldsworthy (b. 1956, Cheshire, England) documents his explorations of the effects of time and the relationship between humans and the land through sculptures, installations, photographs, and films, and is currently completing Hanging Stones in North Yorkshire, a six-mile walking route he has described as “the most important work of my life.” Daniel Libeskind (b. 1946, Lodz, Poland), known for architecture that evokes cultural memory, established his studio in Berlin in 1989 after winning the competition to design the Jewish Museum Berlin, and was appointed master planner for the World Trade Center redevelopment in 2003. Herbert Blomstedt (b. 1927, Springfield, Massachusetts) served as chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden (1975–85) and music director of the San Francisco Symphony (1985–95), and even into his tenth decade continues to conduct many of the world’s finest orchestras, frequently leading performances from memory. Cate Blanchett (b. 1969, Melbourne), an actress and producer who has received two Academy Awards, four BAFTAs, and four Golden Globes since her international breakout in Elizabeth (1998), created the Displacement Film Fund, which empowers refugee and displaced filmmakers, and serves as a Global Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR.
The recipient of the 2026 Grant for Young Artists, announced at the press conference in Paris, is La Source Garouste, founded in 1991 by French contemporary artist Gérard Garouste and his wife, interior designer Élizabeth Garouste, and dedicated to empowering disadvantaged children and driving social change through art. The association today operates ten centers across France, implementing roughly 370 projects annually. The organization will be presented with 5 million yen. A commemorative architecture lecture by Libeskind will be held in Tokyo on October 29.
Praemium Imperiale: https://www.praemiumimperiale.org/
Concert of the Gewandhausorchester, Leipzig, September, 2025 The Great Hall of the Gewandhaus, Leipzig © Konrad Stöhr
Cate Blanchett stars as Arkadina in a scene from The Seagull at the Barbican Theatre, London, 2025 Photo: Marc Brenner
Marionette-making workshop, Oise, France, April 2026 Photo: Shun Kambe © The Japan Art Association