Praemium Imperiale, an international arts prize awarded annually since 1989 by the Japan Art Association in Tokyo. The prize is awarded in five fields: architecture, music, painting, sculpture, and theatre/film. It is considered one of the highest honours among awards in the arts.
The Japan Art Association was founded in 1879 as Ryuchikai with the support of Japan’s imperial family and with the purpose of reviving and promoting the arts of Japan, especially abroad. The Praemium Imperiale was established in honour of Japan’s Prince Takamatsu, the long-time governor of the association (1929–87), who was deeply committed to contributing to the global arts community.
The winners of the prize are chosen by five nominating committees, each headed by an international adviser. At a ceremony in Tokyo, the laureates receive from the governor of the association a medal, a certificate, and a monetary prize of 15 million yen (about $133,000). Since 1997 the Praemium Imperiale has also awarded a yearly grant for young artists. The grant of five million yen (about $44,000) is awarded to an organization that encourages the participation of young people in the arts.
Praemium Imperiale laureates are listed in the table.
| year | painting | sculpture | architecture | music | theatre/film |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 |
Willem de Kooning (Neth.) and David Hockney (Eng.) |
Umberto Mastroianni (Italy) | I.M. Pei (China) | Pierre Boulez (France) | Marcel Carné (France) |
| 1990 | Antoni Tàpies (Spain) | Arnaldo Pomodoro (Italy) | James Stirling (Scot.) | Leonard Bernstein (U.S.) | Federico Fellini (Italy) |
| 1991 | Balthus (France) | Eduardo Chillida (Spain) | Gaetana Aulenti (Italy) | György Ligeti (Rom.) | Ingmar Bergman (Swed.) |
| 1992 | Pierre Soulages (France) | Sir Anthony Caro (Eng.) | Frank O. Gehry (Can.) | Alfred Schnittke (Russia) | Kurosawa Akira (Japan) |
| 1993 | Jasper Johns (U.S.) | Max Bill (Switz.) | Tange Kenzō (Japan) | Mstislav Rostropovich (Azer.) | Maurice Béjart (France) |
| 1994 | Zao Wou-Ki (China) | Richard Serra (U.S.) | Charles Correa (India) | Henri Dutilleux (France) | John Gielgud (Eng.) |
| 1995 | Roberto Matta (Chile) | Christo and Jeanne-Claude (Bulg. and Mor., respectively) | Renzo Piano (Italy) | Andrew Lloyd Webber (Eng.) | Nakamura Utaemon VI (Japan) |
| 1996 | Cy Twombly (U.S.) | César (France) | Andō Tadao (Japan) | Luciano Berio (Italy) | Andrzej Wajda (Pol.) |
| 1997 | Gerhard Richter (Ger.) | George Segal (U.S.) | Richard Meier (U.S.) | Ravi Shankar (India) | Peter Brook (Eng.) |
| 1998 | Robert Rauschenberg (U.S.) | Dani Karavan (Israel) | Álvaro Siza (Port.) | Sofia Gubaidulina (Russia) | Richard Attenborough (Eng.) |
| 1999 | Anselm Kiefer (Ger.) | Louise Bourgeois (France) | Fumihiko Maki (Japan) | Oscar Peterson (Can.) | Pina Bausch (Ger.) |
| 2000 | Ellsworth Kelly (U.S.) | Niki de Saint Phalle (France) | Richard Rogers (Italy) | Hans Werner Henze (Ger.) | Stephen Sondheim (U.S.) |
| 2001 | Lee Ufan (S.Kor.) | Marta Pan (Hung.) | Jean Nouvel (France) | Ornette Coleman (U.S.) | Arthur Miller (U.S.) |
| 2002 | Sigmar Polke (Pol.) | Giuliano Vangi (Italy) | Norman Foster (Eng.) | Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Ger.) | Jean-Luc Godard (Switz.) |
| 2003 | Bridget Riley (Eng.) | Mario Merz (Italy) | Rem Koolhaas (Neth.) | Claudio Abbado (Italy) | Ken Loach (Eng.) |
| 2004 | Georg Baselitz (Ger.) | Bruce Nauman (U.S.) | Oscar Niemeyer (Braz.) | Krzysztof Penderecki (Pol.) | Abbas Kiarostami (Iran) |
| 2005 | Robert Ryman (U.S.) | Issey Miyake (Japan) | Taniguchi Yoshio (Japan) | Martha Argerich (Arg.) | Merce Cunningham (U.S.) |
| 2006 | Yayoi Kusama (Japan) | Christian Boltanski (France) | Frei Otto (Ger.) | Steve Reich (U.S.) | Maya Plisetskaya (Russia) |
| 2007 | Daniel Buren (France) | Tony Cragg (Eng.) | Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron (Switz.) | Daniel Barenboim (Arg.) | Ellen Stewart (U.S.) |
| 2008 | Richard Hamilton (Eng.) | Ilya and Emilia Kabakov (Russia) | Peter Zumthor (Switz.) | Zubin Mehta (India) | Sakata Tōjūrō (Japan) |
| 2009 | Sugimoto Hiroshi (Japan) | Richard Long (Eng.) | Zaha Hadid (Iraq) | Alfred Brendel (Czech.) | Tom Stoppard (Czech.) |
| 2010 | Enrico Castellani (Italy) | Rebecca Horn (Ger.) | Itō Toyo-o (S.Kor.) | Maurizio Pollini (Italy) | Sophia Loren (Italy) |
| 2011 | Bill Viola (U.S.) | Anish Kapoor (India) | Ricardo Legorreta (Mex.) | Seiji Ozawa (China) | Judi Dench (Eng.) |
| 2012 | Cai Guo-Qiang (China) | Cecco Bonanotte (Italy) | Henning Larsen (Den.) | Philip Glass (U.S.) | Morishita Yoko (Japan) |
| 2013 | Michelangelo Pistoletto (Italy) | Antony Gormley (Eng.) | David Chipperfield (Eng.) | Plácido Domingo (Spain) | Francis Ford Coppola (U.S.) |
| 2014 | Martial Raysse (France) | Giuseppe Penone (Italy) | Steven Holl (U.S.) | Arvo Pärt (Est.) | Athol Fugard (S.Af.) |
| 2015 | Yokoo Tadanori (Japan) | Wolfgang Laib (Ger.) | Dominique Perrault (France) | Mitsuko Uchida (Japan) | Sylvie Guillem (France) |
| 2016 | Cindy Sherman (U.S.) | Annette Messager (France) | Paulo Mendes da Rocha (Braz.) | Gidon Kremer (Latvia) | Martin Scorsese (U.S.) |
| 2017 | Shirin Neshat (Iran) | El Anatsui (Ghana) | Rafael Moneo (Spain) | Youssou N'Dour (Seneg.) | Mikhail Baryshnikov (Russia and U.S.) |
| 2018 | Pierre Alechinsky (Belgium and France) | Fujiko Nakaya (Japan) | Christian de Portzamparc (France) | Riccardo Muti (Italy) | Catherine Deneuve (France) |
| 2019 | William Kentridge (S.Afr.) | Mona Hatoum (Lebanon and Eng.) | Tod Williams (U.S.) and Billie Tsein (U.S.) | Anne-Sophie Mutter (Ger.) | Bandō Tamasaburō V (Japan) |
| 2020 | No awards given | ||||
| 2021 | Sebastião Salgado (Brazil and France) | James Turrell (U.S.) | Glenn Murcutt (Australia) | Yo-Yo Ma (U.S.) | Not awarded |
| 2022 | Giulio Paolini (Italy) | Ai Weiwei (China) | Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa (Japan) | Krystian Zimerman (Poland) | Wim Wenders (Germany) |