PRIX KANDINSKY

 

Created by Nina Kandinsky in memory of her husband Wassily Kandinsky who died in 1944. The prize ran from 1946–1961 and was held at the avant-garde Galerie Denise René in Paris. Championing young abstract artists, early jury members included the art critics Leon Degand , Charles Estienne and Wilhelm Uhde.

Winners:
1946 Jean DEWASNE & Jean DEYROLLE
1947 Serge POLIAKOFF
1948 Max BILL & Jean LEPPIEN
1949 Youla CHAPOVAL & Marie RAYMOND
1950 Richard MORTENSEN
1951 Jean DEGOTTEX
1952 Pablo PALAZUELO
1953 Alexandre ISTRATI
1955 Natalia DUMITRESCO
1960 Eduardo CHILLIDA
1961 Piero DORAZIO

 

PRIX FÉNÉON

 

Founded in Paris by the curator and Galerie Bernheim-Jeune director Felix Fénéon’s widow in 1949 using proceeds from part of their collection.  The prize was organised by the Sorbonne and championed young emerging artists (under 36yrs old), and continues to this day. A prize for literature is run in tandem.

Winners:
1949 Pierre PALLUT
1950 Maurice VERDIER & Jean SIGNOVERT
1951 Paul REBEYROLLE, Louis DERBRE & Pierre PRUVOST
1952 Marcel FIORINI
1953 André COTTAVOZ & Jean FUSARD
1954 René LAUBIES, R-E GILLET, Lucien FLEURY, Jack CHAMBRUN
1955 Huguette BERTRAND, Jacques PETIT, Dominique MAYET, Philippe BONNET
1956 Luc SIMON, J-C BERTRAND
1957 Guy de VOGUE, Bernard SABY, Pierre PARSUS, Gabriel GODARD
1958 René ARTOZOUL
1959 André RAFAN, Piero GRAZIANO, Henri CUECO, Paul BRAUDEY, Gilles AILLAUD
1960 Christian LEMESLE
1961 Alain MATHIOT
1962 Jean RAVAL
1963 Michel COUCHAT, Pierre ANFOSSO
1964 Michel PARRE, J-P PERARO, Jean PARSY

1965 Roger PICARD, Pierre BURAGLIO, Joel KERMARREC
1966 Alexandre BONNIER, Michel FAUBLEE
1967 Philippe LEVANTAL, Michel FAUBLEE
1968 Michel MALY
1969 Pierre GASTE, M-P DAMIRON

PRIX DE ROME

 

Established by King Louis XIV in 1663, the Prix de Rome enabled emerging artists from France to study at the Academie de France in Rome. Emulated by other countries, it became one of the longest-standing awards, only ended in 1968 by André Malraux, the French minister of cultural affairs, following the student riots. When Reynold Arnould (a close friend of Andre Malraux) received the prize in 1939, at the onset of World War II, the prize winners were accommodated in the Villa Paradiso in Nice.

 

[Image: 1939 winners: Alice Richter 2nd and Reynold Arnould 1st]

 

Winners:

1939 Reynold ARNOULD
1943 Pierre-Yves TRÉMOIS
1944 George PICHON
1945 Pierre-Marie GUYENOT
1946 José FABRI-CANTI
1947 Éliane BEAUPUY
1948 Francois ORLANDINI
1949
1950 Francoise BOUDET
1951 Daniel SÉNÉLIER
1952 Paul GUIRAMAND
1953 André BRASILIER
1954 Armand SINKO
1955 Paul AMBILLE
1956 Henri THOMAS
1957 Arnaud d’Hauterives
1958 Raymond HUMBERT
1959 Arlette BUDY
1960 Pierre CARRON

PRIX DE LA CRITIQUE

 

Founded by the ambitious young dealer Jean Rumeau in 1948 at his Galerie Saint-Placide which he opened at 41 rue Saint-Placide in Paris the previous year. The jury consisted of leading critics aspiring to emulate the similarly named (but separate) literature prize.

 

[Image: André Minaux receiveing the award from Jean Rumean in 1949]

 

Winners:

1948 Bernard BUFFET & Bernard LORJOU
1949 André MINAUX
1950 Max PAPART, & Jean COUTY
1951 Joseph PRESSMANE
1952 Yvonne MOTTET
1953 Jean LE MOAL; Gaston SEBIRE; Yvonne MOTTET
1954 Paul BERCOT
1955 Maurice SARTHOU; Raoul PRADIER
1956  Sayed Haider RAZA
1957 Jean MARZELLE; Pierre CARRON
1959 Jean GACHET
1960 Raymond LEGUELT

PRIX DE LA JEUNE PEINTURE

 

Founded in 1946 by the Parisian gallerists Armand Drouant and Emmanuel David, who collaborated from 1942-1956, at their Galerie Drouant-David on rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. The prize was for artists under 30 years old.

 

[Image: Announcement in "Les Lettres Francaises", 29th March 1946]

 

Winners:

1946 Pierr PALLUT, 2nd Marcel BURTIN
1947 Marcel CALMETTES
1948 Jean CORTOT
1949
1950 Max PAPART; Paul REBEYROLLE
1951 Richard BELLIAS
1952 Maurice ROCHER
1953 Raymond GUERRIER, Francis GRUBER
1954 Jean POLLET
1955 Roland BIACABE
1956 Jacques WINSBERG

 

BIENNALE DE MENTON

 

Started as the “Biennale de Peinture de France” in 1951 by the fauvist painter Roger Limouse, supported by Matisse, Chagall, as well honorary committee members Georges Wildenstein and Prince Rainier. The event in Menton on the Côte d’Azur between Monaco and the Italian border, began initially in resistance to the avant-garde, but by the mid-fifties a coup by the “Beauborgian” modernists transformed it into the “Biennale Internationale de Menton” attracting artists from the international avant-garde.

 

Winners include: Serge POLIAKOFF, Roger HUMBLOT, Max PAPART, Jean DEYROLLE, Jean PIAUBERT, Jacques BUSSE, Edmond BOISSONNET, Léon ZACK

PRIX LISSONE

 

The Premio Lissone was started in 1946 near Milan, by a group of local cultural figures. Initially for Italian artists, but it broadened to European in 1952, becoming a prestigious event before succumbing to the student protests of 1968.

 

Winners include: Theodor WERNER, Jean LOMBARD, Oscar GAUTHIER, Valerio ADAMI, Antoni TAPIES, Joan MITCHELL.

PREMIO MARZOTTO

 

Founded in 1950 by wealthy Italian art collecting Marzotto family in Valdagno, from the textile manufacturing dynasty, with a substantial initial prize fund of 40million Lira it went on to include literature, theatre, philosophy, economics, medicine, and journalism. The competition constituted 100 artists from the European Community and became highly prestigious, with the exhibitions travelling around Europe. Its end in 1968 was a result of the student protests.

 

Winners include: Carlo CARRA, Lucio FONTANA, Pierre DMITRIENKO, Sebastian MATTA, Alberto BURRI, Wilfredo LAM, ARMAN, Pierre ALECHINSKY.

PRIX CARRARA

 

The Biennale Internazionale di Scultura, Carrara, was started by local dignitary Antonio Bernieri in 1957 at the home of the famous Carrara marble quarry. Aspiring to rejuvenate the use of marble and discard its fascist neo-classical connotations, the event proved hugely successful, continuing until 2010 with participants from Henry Moore to Anthony Gormley.