Young Masters Art Prize

The Young Masters Art Prize is a not-for-profit intiative, which celebrates emerging and established contemporary artists who pay homage to the skill and innovation of the Old Masters and art of the past. In 2014, a second strand of the Prize was launched - the Young Masters Maylis Grand Ceramics Prize - to give a separate platform for ceramics and reflect the creativity, innovation and excellence of this artistic medium. 

2017 marks the fourth edition of the prize and is being judged by art historian Godfrey Barker (Chair) with Melanie Gerlis, Art Market Columnist at the Financial Times and Editor-at-large at The Art Newspaper; Daisy McMullan, Curator; Hannah Rothschild, writer, filmmaker and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the National Gallery, London; Charles Saumarez Smith, Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts and Jean Wainwright, Art Historian, Critic and Professor of Contemporary Art and Photography at the University for the Creative Arts. On 21 June they will award three prizes: an overall prize of £2,000 and two Highly Commended Prizes of £500 each courtesy of the Artists’ Collecting Society (ACS). A new ‘Be Smart About Art’ award worth £500 will be inaugurated with this edition of the prize.

The judging panel for the Young Masters Maylis Grand Ceramics Prize comprises Janice Blackburn, former Curator of Arts and Crafts at Sotheby’s; collector Preston Fitzgerald; collector and philanthropist, Maylis Grand and the Crafts Council’s Daniella Wells. A main Ceramics Prize of £1,500 and a Highly Commended Prize of £500 will be awarded.

For the first time in 2017, a new strand of the Young Masters Art Prize will be launched to profile and reward the work of an emerging female artist. The winner of the Young Masters Emerging Woman Art Prize will be selected from all the Young Masters Art Prize and Young Masters Maylis Grand Ceramics Prize entries. The judging panel for the Young Masters Emerging Woman Art Prize comprises: Beth Colocci, Chairman of the Trustees of UK Friends of the National Museum of Women in the Arts; Sylvie Gormezano, Chair of the Association of Women Art Dealers; award-winning designer and art collector Ronnette Riley, FAIA and Nadja Swarovski, Member of the Executive Board, Head of Corporate Branding and Communications and Chairperson of the Swarovski Foundation. They will present the winner with an award of £1,000 and a runner-up with a Highly Commended Prize of £250, which have been made possible thanks to Dr Chris Blatchley.