Cate Blanchett Among 2026 PRAEMIUM IMPERIALE Award Laureates

The Japan Art Association and Lord Patten of Barnes, Praemium Imperiale's International Advisor in the UK, have announced the recipients of the 2026 Praemium Imperiale Awards.

Theatre/Film: Cate Blanchett (57, Australia)
Music: Herbert Blomstedt (99, USA/Sweden)
Sculpture: Andy Goldsworthy (70, United Kingdom)
Painting: Jenny Holzer (76, USA)
Architecture: Daniel Libeskind (80, Poland/USA)

The awards are given by the Japan Art Association under the honorary patronage of His Imperial Highness Prince Hitachi, young brother to the Emperor Emeritus of Japan. The French organisation La Source Garouste has been chosen as the recipient of the Grant for Young Artists.

Lord Patten said, 'This year's laureates share an immense passion for their respective craft as well as the land and people that inspire their art. Together their body of work celebrates the beauty and transformative power of art for the individual and the society. I applaud Japan Art Association's dedication and generosity towards recognising the achievement of these great artists.'

Since 1989, the Praemium Imperiale Awards have been given annually in the categories of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Music and Theatre/Film; covering fields of achievement not represented by the Nobel Prizes. The Laureates are selected from a list submitted by six International Advisors to the Japan Art Association. In order to maintain the Awards' mandate to select candidates who have made a major international impact in their particular field, the International Advisors for the Awards and their committees are committed to looking beyond their own national boundaries for ground-breaking artists to recommend to the Japan Art Association. Each Laureate receives an honorarium of 15 million Yen (c. £70,000). The recipient of the Grant for Young Artists is awarded 5 million Yen (c.23,000).

Currently starring in Benedict Andrews' new play Electra/Persona at The National Theatre, Cate Blanchett is an internationally acclaimed actress and producer. Winner of two Academy Awards, four BAFTAs, four Golden Globes and three SAG Awards, Blanchett's diverse film credits have included roles in Elizabeth (1998), The Aviator (2004), I'm Not There (2007), Blue Jasmine (2013), Carol (2015) and Tár (2022). She is also the Co-Founder and Principal of film and television production company Dirty Films. Blanchett is widely recognised for her humanitarian engagements – as creator of the Displacement Film Fund which empowers refugee and displaced filmmakers, as well as the Proof-of-Concept development programme, supporting filmmakers who amplify the voices of women, trans and non-binary people. She is a Global Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR.

Born in Cheshire in 1956, Andy Goldsworthy is one the most prominent and iconic sculptors and land artists of our time. Through sculptures, installations, photographs and films in a career spanning five decades, Goldsworthy documents his explorations of the effects of time, the relationship between humans and the land and the beauty in loss and regeneration. His most recent museum exhibition – Andy Goldsworthy: Fifty Years – was held in 2025 at the Royal Scottish Academy and organised by the National Galleries of Scotland. Goldsworthy is currently completing Hanging Stones in Northern Yorkshire, a project described by the artist as 'the most important work of my life.' Hanging Stones takes the form of a six-mile walking route between ten formerly derelict houses that have been rebuilt as artworks, together forming a single work.

Born in Gallipolis Ohio, the American artist Jenny Holzer has challenged many of the conventions of traditional art in the context of public spaces since her Truisms and Inflammatory Essays were first posted anonymously around New York City in the late 1970s. With writing as the basis of her practice, Holzer has to date written 16 text series and cowritten three collaborative texts. Her recent use of text ranges from silk-screened paintings of declassified government documents detailing prisoners abuse to poetry and prose in a 65-foot-wide wall of light at the World Trade Centre. For her forthcoming exhibition 'J'ai vu' conceived for and with the Musée d'Orsay Paris opening on 20 October, she offers text fragments from the museum's archive and the historical period covered by its collection, disseminated across her signature media: monumental installations, projections onto the historic façade of the former railway station, engravings on exotic stone and luminous electronic displays.

At 99, Herbert Blomstedt is one of the foremost conductors of our time. Born in Springfield Massachusetts to Swedish parents, Blomstedt grew up in Sweden and Finland and received his musical training in Stockholm, Uppsala, New York, Basel and Tanglewood, working with influential musicians as Igor Markevitch, Jean Morel, Leonard Bernstein and Paul Sacher. His Seventh-day Adventist faith is central to his approach to life and music making, much admired for its combination intellectual rigor with emotional warmth, revealing the structural logic and expressive depth inherent within the music itself. He has held major appointments with leading orchestras including the Oslo Philharmonic, the Danish Radio Symphony, the Swedish Radio Symphony, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the San Francisco Symphony, the NDR Symphony and the Gewandhaus Orchestras.

Born in Łódź Poland and based in New York, Daniel Libeskind is an internationally renowned architect and urban designer, celebrated for his ability to evoke cultural memory through emotionally resonant and original architecture. Libeskind's career was launched onto the global stage after winning the competition to design the Jewish Museum Berlin (2001). Studio Libeskind relocated its headquarters to New York City when Libeskind was appointed the master planner for the World Trade Center redevelopment. The firm's portfolio includes museums, concert halls, convention centres, university buildings, hotels, retail complexes and residential towers. Currently, Libeskind's Albert Einstein Discovery Center project is underway in the southern German city of Ulm, the birthplace of Einstein, a new landmark that will communicate Einstein's scientific achievements and his spirit of pacifism.

In addition to the Praemium Imperiale Awards, La Source Garouste is selected for the 2026 Grant for Young Artists. Founded in 1991 by the French contemporary artist Gérard Garouste and his wife interior designer Elizabeth Garouste, La Source Garouste is dedicated to empowering disadvantaged children and driving social change through the transformative power of art. The organisation organises immersive workshops led by professional artists working in tandem with educational experts, targeting children aged 6 to 18 during school vacations. Today, La Source Garouste operates 10 centres across France, implementing 370 projects annually. Supported by a network of 200 professional artists, the association empowers nearly 10,000 children each year.

Previous British laureates of the Praemium Imperiale include David Hockney, Peter Doig, Mona Hatoum, Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley, Richard Long, Bridget Riley, Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, David Chipperfield, Judi Dench, Anthony Caro, Tony Cragg, András Schiff and Mitsuko Uchida.

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