German artist Juergen Wolf has today been announced as the winner of this year’s Young Masters Art Prize, taking home the sum of £1,500. The award was presented at Sphinx Fine Art in London’s West End by the chief executive of the Royal Academy of Arts; Charles Saumarez Smith. “I was very impressed by the quality of the entries to the prize as a whole, greatly enjoyed the process of selection of the winners and found it interestingly difficult to pick the best,” Saumarez Smith told the Independent.
The German painter was chosen from a shortlist of 30 international artists from all over the world, including Red Saunders, a photographer for Rolling Stone and GQ; a photographer who has produced works inspired by Rembrandt and Caravaggio; Alice Palmer, a textile designer who uses industrial machines to create knitted artworks with a tapestry style; and painter Caterina Voltolini, whose self-portraits are influenced by the Italian artists Fra Angelico and Giotto.
“But, in the end, there was a unanimous decision.” Stated Saumarez Smith to the publication.
Saskia Boelsums and Marwane Pallas were awarded an Artist’s Collecting Society Prize of £500 for combining innovative skill with an awareness of art history. British artist Matt Smith won the inaugural Young Masters Maylis Grand Ceramics Prize for his awareness of the craft’s heritage and his “exceptional command of ceramics”. The winning artists will travel abroad as part of the 2015 Young Masters International Tour.
Established by the gallerist Cynthia Corbett in 2009; the prize recognises ceramicists for the first time this year with its Young Masters Maylis Grand Ceramics Prize.