The Japan Art Association proudly announces the recipients of the 14th PRAEMIUM IMPERIALE as follows:

Painting: SIGMAR POLKE
Sculpture:  GIULIANO VANGI
Architecture: NORMAN FOSTER
Music: DIETRICH FISCHER-DIESKAU
Theatre/film: JEAN-LUC GODARD

The artists are recognized and awarded for their achievements, for the impact they have had internationally on the arts, and for their role in enriching the global community. The five recipients each receive 15 million yen(c. $125,000), and a diploma and medal presented by honorary patron of the Japan Art Association Prince Hitachi in an awards ceremony in Tokyo. The awards ceremony will be held on October 23rd, 2002.
The Praemium Imperiale is an annual award given by the Japan Art Association for global achievement in the arts. Since its foundation in 1989, it has become a mark of the highest international distinction. The 2002 laureates join a roster of 67 artists, including David Hockney, Willem de Kooning, Robert Rauschenberg, Christo and Jean-Claude, Anthony Caro, Frank Gehry, Renzo Piano, Leonard Bernstein, Mstislav Rostropovich, Ravi Shankar, Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, Peter Brook.

2002 PRAEMIUM IMPERIALE LAUREATES

Painting ：SIGMAR POLKE
Sigmar Polke was born in Oels/Schlesien, Poland in 1941 and studied art at the Staatliche Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf under Joseph Beuys between 1961 and 1967. Polke first gained notoriety in 1963 alongside fellow student Gerhard Richter with their exhibition “Capital Realism.” Polke’s work with old prints, news photos, and comic characters has always set his work apart, politically and emotionally, both from American and British Pop Art, and from his German contemporaries.

Sculpture：GIULIANO VANGI
Giuliano Vangi was born near Florence in 1931. He began his career concentrating on abstract studies and working with crystal and metals such as iron and steel, but moved to figurative expression when he returned to Italy in 1962 after four years in Brazil. His subject is always the human figure, and aside from stone, wood, and metal, he is just as likely to use glass and pottery, gems and gold - or any other natural material. He is currently collaborating with architect Renzo Piano(Praemium Imperiale laureate 1995) on a new work for the Church of St. Padre Pio. Robert Rauschenberg(Praemium Imperiale laureate 1998) and Arnaldo Pomodoro(Praemium Imperiale laureate 1990) are also taking part in this project.

Architecture：NORMAN FOSTER
Norman Foster was born in Manchester in 1935. After graduating from Manchester University School of Architecture and City Planning in 1961, he completed a Master’s Degree in Architecture at Yale University. His architecture is universally admired for its conceptual and structural brilliance and “high-tech” beauty - a special union of technology and aesthetics that has been polished and perfected over a lifetime. His works combine advanced technology, an ingenious geometry, attention to detail, and sensitivity to ecological considerations. Recent commissions, especially the Sackler Galleries and the Great Court of the British Museum, both in London, and the new German Parliament at the Reichstag in Berlin, add a new quality to his work. Although uncompromisingly modern in character, they demonstrate a great respect for the past.

Music：DIETRICH FISCHER-DIESKAU
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau was born in Berlin in 1925. For most of his career, he divided his time fairly equally between opera and concerts. He sang Verdi and Puccini roles as readily as Mozart, Strauss and Wagner, and sang in many contemporary operas as well. Although probably most well known for his performances of traditional lieder, Fischer-Dieskau's dedicated commitment to contemporary music is noteworthy. He participated in the first performances of works by Benjamin Britten, Samuel Barber, Hans Werner Henze, Ernst Krenek, Witold Lutoslawski, Siegfried Matthus, Winfried Zillig, Gottfried von Einem. The precisely articulated accuracy of his performances, in which text and music are presented as equal partners, established standards that endure today. He is considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.

Theatre/film：JEAN-LUC GODARD
Jean-Luc Godard was born in Paris in 1930, and grew up in Switzerland. He returned to Paris in the late 1940’s to study and during this period he met Andre Bazin, Francois Truffaut, and others who would be central to the French Nouvelle Vague movement of the 1960s. He is widely recognized as one of the filmmakers who has most influenced the modern art and language of the medium. Breathless(a bout de souffle)(1959), Godard’s first full-length film was to become an epoch-making point in motion picture history. Godard continues to explore new techniques in film and video. Godard’s works, from Breathless through his most recent, Eloge de l’Amour(2001), challenge his contemporaries and also have an immense influence on artists working in many different fields.

ANNOUNCEMENT IN PARIS
The main announcement took place, with all of the new Praemium Imperiale laureates present, at the Chateau de Versailles. Mr. Raymond Barre hosted the event on behalf of the Japan Art Association. Mr. Barre serves, along with Messers.Umberto Agnelli, Edward Heath, William Luers, Yasuhiro Nakasone, and Richard von Weizsäcker, on an advisory panel to the Japan Art Association. Japan Art Association executives and advisors attended the Paris announcement.

GRANT FOR YOUNG ARTISTS
The Grant for Young Artists was awarded to the European Union Youth Orchestra. The Japan Art Association will grant the orchestra 5 million yen(c.$40,000) to assist their efforts.

PRAEMIUM IMPERIALE ANNOUNCEMENT AROUND THE WORLD Aside from attending the main announcement of the 2002 Praemium Imperiale in France, international advisors organized various events in celebration of the 14th Praemium Imperiale. Sir Edward Heath invited press, laureates, and arts related persons to a London celebration of the 2002 announcement. Mr. and Mrs. Umberto Agnelli and 2002 sculpture laureate Giuliano Vangi and Mrs. Vangi will meet with the President of Italy in Rome on September 18. In Berlin, Dr. Richard von Weizsäcker hosted a dinner including a performance of music composed by 2000 laureate Hans Werner Henze. In Tokyo, Yasuhiro Nakasone held a press luncheon at the Japan Press Center.

For further information:
http//www.praemiumimperiale.org

The Japan Art Association, Tokyo
tel:(81 3) 5251 2245
fax(81 3) 5251 2247

Paris
Claudine Colin
ccc@claudinecolin.com　
tel: (331) 4272 6001
fax:(331) 4272 5023

London
Sandie Barker
sba@dial.pipex.com
tel: (4420) 7586 4604
fax(4420) 7722 8761

Berlin
Astrid Lilja
astrid.lilja@web.de
cel:49 (0) 172 2929 986
FAX:49 (0) 308 9322 93

Rome
Francesca Martinotti
info@lagenzia.it
tel: (39 06) 8069 2424
fax: (39 06) 8066 9906

NY
Lloyd Kaplan
tel: (1-212) 575 4545
fax: (1-212)575 0519