Paul Smith’s Foundation and Winsor & Newton are partnering to launch a new art prize in painting and drawing. Six winning artists will be selected from a free-to-enter Open Call, chosen by a notable, local industry representative (full list below) who has the networks and experience to develop an artist’s professional practice.
Each artist will receive a monetary donation from Paul Smith’s Foundation and up to £1,000 worth of materials of their choosing from Winsor & Newton to make a new piece of work which will be hung for sale in their local Paul Smith store. In Year One, one artist will be chosen in Tokyo, Hong Kong, London, Paris, New York and Los Angeles.
Participating stores (see below) have been specially selected for their valuable location with high foot count, proximity to art-relevant areas, or a reputation for selling artwork. They include Ocean Centre (Hong Kong); Albemarle Street (London), Rue de Grenelle (Paris), Ginza (Tokyo), Melrose Avenue (Los Angeles) and Wooster St (New York). Winning artists will keep 100% of the proceeds from a sale of their work and are invited to attend an intimate dinner with the judges at Mount St Restaurant in October, in London, hosted by Sir Paul Smith.
Travel and accommodation expenses are generously funded by Winsor & Newton. Artists will also be featured in a short film, commissioned by Winsor & Newton, to be released in November 2024.
We are honoured to be partnering with Paul Smith’s Foundation to offer this unique and first-of[1]its-kind opportunity to early career artists. It quickly became clear that we share Sir Paul’s ethos to support art, and artists, and give back to the artistic community so this initiative is a wonderful manifestation of that common purpose. As a global brand, Winsor & Newton’s mission is to the see the world ‘Through the Eyes of the Artist’, and so the prize’s theme of ‘Finding Inspiration Everywhere’ is completely aligned with that vision, and we can’t wait to explore the diversity and originality of entries that the prize will no doubt attract.
Helly Summerly, Winsor & Newton’s Global Brand Director
A world-renowned and market-leading heritage artist materials company, Winsor & Newton was established in London in 1832 and received its first Royal Warrant in 1841 – an honour that it still retains Used by notable names such as Edvard Munch, JMW Turner, Georgia O’Keefe, David Hockney and Piet Mondrian, Winsor & Newton continues to innovate and experiment, launching and re-launching products from the world’s first moist watercolours (1835); the world’s first alkyd oil colour (1976); the artist’s oil bar (1992) and water-soluble oils (1998). Today, Winsor & Newton’s portfolio spans both Fine Art and Graphic Art, and its products are used by artists of all abilities around the world and supplied to over 120 countries with an estimated global share of 27%* making it the market leader in art materials.
For decades, Sir Paul Smith has championed art and artists. From a 20-yr scholarship with the Royal Academy Schools, to a collection of over 10,000 works of art exhibited in stores worldwide. Originals from names including Damien Hirst, Lynette Yiadom-Boake and Banksy are showcased alongside works from early career artists in a globally rotating programme of showcases and selling exhibitions. To date, over 120 artists have exhibited their work around the world with Paul Smith, including existing and especially commissioned pieces.
The W&N x PSF Art Prize is first international art project from Paul Smith’s Foundation, who are thrilled to be working with leading international voices in the sector to establish a new programme of support and build networks for artists in their local area.
The judges include –
César García-Alvarez, Los Angeles, Founding Executive & Artistic Director of The Mistake Room.
The Mistake Room (TMR) in Los Angeles is an independent space that presents artist projects and exhibitions with a global focus. García Alvarez has curated exhibitions and projects with artists Oscar Murillo, Vivian Suter, Ed Clark, Felipe Baeza, and Diana Thater amongst others. César served as Associate Director and Senior Curator at LAXART (2007-2012) and was one of the curators of the first LA Biennial, Made in L.A., in 2012. In 2013 César was appointed US Commissioner of the Cairo Biennial in Egypt, and in 2021 served as the co-curator of Desert X in the Coachella Valley. In 2023 César was included in the Apollo 40 Under 40 list.
Aaina Bhargava, Hong Kong Arts & Culture Editor Tatler Asia. Aaina is an arts writer and editor raised and based in Hong Kong. She is currently the Arts and Culture Editor of Tatler Asia, where she continues to identify topical issues and chart growing cultural trends in Asia and around the world. Through interviews with prominent industry names and notable emerging talents, Aaina seeks to create stimulating and meaningful editorial content, covering cultural developments through a relevant, global perspective. Previously a culture reporter at the South China Morning Post, Aaina also contributes to Art Review, The Art Newspaper, Ocula, Design Anthology, and Artomity, and has extensive experience in the art world working for and with a variety of institutions in Asia and the UK.
Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn, New York, Founder Salon 94 and Salon 94 Design is a gallerist, art advisor and curator. Established almost two decades ago, Salon 94 is now an iconic project space and gallery, located in a historic Beaux Arts building on Museum Mile, which presents work by a diverse range of artistic voices including Marilyn Minter, Huma Bhabha, Derrick Adams, and Niki de Saint Phalle. In 2017, Jeanne founded Salon 94 Design, breaking hierarchies between design and high art, showing radical designers like Max Lamb, Jay Sae Jung Oh, and representing the estate of Donald Judd furniture. Jeanne sits on the boards of White Columns and Performa, a non-profit organization dedicated to performance art.
Kyoko Hattori, Tokyo Vice President PACE Kyoko is responsible for launching the gallery’s new development in Azabudai Hills. Prior to joining PACE, Hattori worked as Regional Director of Phillips in Japan. Opening Phillips’s Tokyo office in 2016, she was responsible for managing client relationships and securing significant consignments from Japan. Over the course of her tenure at Phillips, Hattori helped establish the enterprise as one of the top global auction houses in Japan. Hattori earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Tokyo in 1998 and held roles at major financial services and consulting firms earlier in her career. Hattori sits on the Board of FWD Group, a leading Pan Asia insurance company.
Ekow Eshun, London, Curator, writer, broadcaster and Chair of the Fourth Plinth and the former Director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London. Recent exhibition credits include The Time Is Always Now at the National Portrait Gallery, London, 2024, and In The Black Fantastic at the Hayward Gallery, London, in 2022 for which the Association awarded him the Curatorial Prize for Art History. Ekow has authored several books and contributed to catalogue essays for artists including Mark Bradford, Kehinde Wiley, Chris Ofili, John Akomfrah, Deborah Roberts and Wangechi Mutu. He is a judge for the Turner Prize 2024 and was a member of the jury for the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2024.
Fabien Vallerian, Paris, International Director of Arts & Culture at Ruinart. A graduate of Sciences Po Paris and HEC Paris, Fabien Vallérian began his career in 2008 in marketing at Baccarat crystal, where he worked hand in hand with numerous designers and artists. In 2016 he became the Marketing and Commercial Director of the Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres, owned by the French crown or government since 1759. Passionate about contemporary art and design, he joined Maison Ruinart in February 2018 to direct international communications. Today, as International Arts and Culture Director of Ruinart, he works to promote the many links between Ruinart and the art world: commissions to artists (including among others David Shrigley, Tomas Saraceno, NILS-UDO, Eva Jospin, Andrea Bowers…), partnerships with fairs, museums and galleries, public relations as well as various Ruinart art prizes around the world.
Applications are open and close at midnight on Sunday 30th June and can be submitted via: winsornewton.com/paul-smiths-foundation-winsor-newton/
