Artists nominated for the 2026 Drawing Prize of the Daniel and Florence Guerlain Contemporary Art Foundation

An exhibition of the works of the three selected artists will be presented at the Salon du Dessin, which will be held at the Palais Brongniart, Place de la Bourse in Paris, from March 25 to 30, 2026.

The jury will meet on March 26, and the winner will be announced on the same day.

Texts by Marie Maertens

The work of Cathryn Boch

Cathryn Boch draws with sewing, combining it with media such as cartography, satellite images, and postcards, as well as acrylics and other materials. Her exploration of the body and intimacy has merged with that of territories and landscapes to tell us the story of humankind.

Since her studies in the 1990s, at a time when female visual artists and thinkers received little media coverage, Cathryn Boch has explored the field of intimacy in her watercolors. She depicts her own body, talking about fluids and circulation, revealing as much about herself as about others. The medium of drawing, with its delicate lines, is an obvious choice.

“I have always considered it a continuum, a privileged link with thought. Drawing is direct, immediate, but it is also a space for research, attempts, and experiments. It is never something that is announced and determined in advance…”

The artist began to travel extensively and enjoyed applying for residencies that would allow her to discover Eastern European countries, notably Lithuania and Poland. After poring over road maps and city plans as she explored on foot, she decided to make them her source of inspiration, considering roads and rivers as bodies, organs, and flows. Gradually, she evoked the figure in a different way, in a kind of metaphor for the movements across these territories.

Cathryn Boch
Untitled, 2017
Aerial photograph, silver print, topographical map, cartography of Algeria, sugar icing, machine stitching, hand stitching, 79 x 117 x 17 cm. Courtesy Cathryn Boch/ADAGP 2025. ©Jean-Christophe Lett

Cathryn Boch
Sans titre, 2019
carte IGN, peinture, cire, calque topographique, carton, fil de fer, images de presse, henné, couture machine, couture main, 160 x 70 x 25 cm
courtesy Cathryn Boch/ADAGP 2025. ©Jean-Christophe Lett

The work of Simon Schubert

Alongside his own paper folding technique, with which he develops an ever-evolving architecture, Simon Schubert works with blacks and deep colors. His bright white sheets are displayed alongside very dense pigments, immersing the viewer in a world that speaks of absence and existence. Simon Schubert navigates between the dexterity of immaculate white folded sheets and the density of graphite powder. He most often depicts interior architecture, long corridors, staircases, closed doors, rays of sunlight emerging from windows, completely devoid of characters. He creates worlds in which a feeling of loneliness or absence prevails, where space and light become subjects in themselves. While studying sculpture, Simon Schubert invented a folding technique that creates depth and perspective, allowing him to combine the visual arts with his interest in literature and philosophy. He is particularly fascinated by Samuel Beckett and his play Quad, composed of four actors appearing and disappearing in a square, as well as by the construction of his writings.

“To try to connect in some way with Samuel Beckett, to reflect on his work and integrate it into my own, I wanted to reproduce his face. But I symbolized the wrinkles with the folds of the paper. It seemed to me to echo his way of working with language, pushed almost to the point of abstraction, even disappearance. I imagined a drawing without a pencil, so that this technique would structure and fade into the white.”

Formerly an assistant to a philosophy professor, Simon Schubert is passionate about Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and Gilles Deleuze, and “this hypothesis of a reality, of a world turned in on itself.” The artist presents us with a sequenced world, made up of forward and backward tracking shots. He isolates sections, constructing and deconstructing his fictional or real architectures. His subjects are similar, but more tightly focused, in his black graphite drawings, where side views of windows or interiors seem to refer to Johannes Vermeer or Vilhelm Hammershøi. In these “almost nothings,” he lets the mind wander toward a melancholic and existential vision of life, appealing to our perception and projections.

“I seek to refer to our imagination, our memories, and to visualize far beyond what the drawing shows us, so that it becomes a more personalized and profound image. “

In recent years, Simon Schubert has introduced color in a form of boreal abstraction dominated by purple-pink or plum tones. He describes these works as ”spatial mirrors,” reflecting both the spirit of the place and the emotions of the viewers…

Simon Schubert
Untitled 2025
(Light through the window)
Graphite on paper
70 x 50cm.
©Simon Schubert.

The work of Renie Spoelstra

With large formats featuring dense, deep blacks and multiple shades of gray, Renie Spoelstra immerses her viewers in landscapes that reflect her feelings. Mountains, forests, clouds, lakes, and rocks become the main characters in an intimate, timeless narrative.

Although she never gives precise details about the places she visits, Renie Spoelstra begins her journeys with long walks and periods of observation, recording images (photographs or videos). From the landscapes of the Netherlands to those of North America, Canada, and Peru, she lets her own emotions flow in response to what she sees.

Back in her studio, she takes screenshots and sets to work on often large-scale formats, exclusively in charcoal. This silent and solitary work allows her to rediscover the sensations she experienced in the face of the elements, moments of joy or resilience. These journeys result in multiple sheets of paper with rhythms set by the dissipating mist, cascading water, the tilt of trees, or the calm of lakes. She explains that the reflection of the water allows her to connect with her subconscious. She appreciates the connection that can be made, in this spiritual approach to landscape, with her compatriot Piet Mondrian, one of her favorite artists, particularly for his representation of trees.

“I like this way of emphasizing the space between the branches, which gives us the feeling of being truly present, of being able to observe and absorb nature. The idea is not to draw realistically, but rather from within… to feel the plant and then show it in the right way. To get to the very essence of the subject,” she explains.

Renie Spoelstra
Glacier View
High Altitude series, Peru, 2023
Charcoal on paper
240 x 350 cm.
©Renie Spoelstra.

Renie Spoelstra
Mountains & Angels #4
High Altitude series, Peru 2023
Charcoal on paper
65 x 50 cm.
©Renie Spoelstra

More information about the Daniel and Florence Guerlain Contemporary Art Foundation Drawing Prize