Two Artists Just Won a $95,000 'Nobel Prize of the Arts'

Imagine winning a Nobel Prize, but for making beautiful, thought-provoking things instead of, say, discovering a new particle. That’s essentially what just happened for artists Jenny Holzer and Andy Goldsworthy, who were awarded the 37th Praemium Imperiale from Japan. It’s one of the art world's most prestigious accolades, and yes, it comes with a rather pleasing 15 million yen (roughly $95,000) for each winner.

The Praemium Imperiale is basically the lifetime achievement award for the globe's most impactful creators across painting, sculpture, architecture, music, and theater/film. It’s the kind of prize that makes an artist's accountant very happy.

And the Envelopes, Please

This year's roster of laureates is, as expected, a collection of heavy hitters. We’re talking about Oscar-winning actor Cate Blanchett, whose trophy cabinet is likely groaning already. Polish American architect Daniel Libeskind, responsible for the starkly beautiful Jewish Museum in Berlin, also made the cut. And because age is just a number when you’re a maestro, 99-year-old Swedish American symphony conductor Herbert Blomstedt was honored too. Let that satisfying number sink in.

Jenny Holzer, who took home the prize for painting, is known for her work that uses language as its medium. Her often-witty texts pop up everywhere: on electronic signs, carved into stone, projected onto buildings, or simply painted on a canvas. Her art delves into power, memory, and justice, exploring how public words shape our politics and society, and how language interacts with the spaces it inhabits. She even snagged a Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale back in 1990, which, if you’re keeping score, is a pretty big deal. Her work has graced the Guggenheim and MoMA, and she even has a solo show coming up at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris this fall. Busy woman.

Andy Goldsworthy, the sculpture category winner, is the kind of artist who makes you look at a pile of leaves and think, “Could that be art?” He crafts stunning, often temporary, installations from natural materials like snow, twigs, and rocks, arranging them in ways that highlight the beauty and transience of nature. His work is a quiet meditation on time itself. You can spot his creations at places like the National Gallery of Art, and he recently had a major exhibit at the Royal Scottish Academy. Because apparently, even a pile of carefully arranged pebbles can command significant gallery space.

Beyond the individual artists, the Japan Art Association also tossed a 5 million yen grant (about $32,000) to La Source Garouste association in France, which champions young artists. Because the next generation needs a little help, too, before they start winning their own six-figure art Nobels.