Daniel and Florence Guerlain
contemporary art foundation
drawing prize
Contemporary art collectors for some thirty years, Daniel and Florence Guerlain quickly developed a passion for drawing, which they consider to be the medium closest to thought, embodying both a great classical tradition and the most daring modernity.
Daniel and Florence Guerlain
They built up a collection comprising works by more than two hundred artists of some thirty nationalities.
The quality and richness of this collection were revealed when they made an exceptional donation of 1,200 drawings to the Centre Pompidou and through exhibitions dedicated to it in Paris (470 works at the Centre Pompidou, 2013), Libourne (100 drawings at the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Chapelle du Carmel, 2014), Sweden (250 drawings at the Nordiska Akvarellmuseet, 2015-2016), Denmark in Aalborg (250 drawings at the Kunsten Museum, 2016), Ibiza (125 drawings at the Museu d’Art Contemporan d’Eivissa, 2017) .
A new selection was shown at the Albertina in Vienna from 11 October 2019 to 12 January 2020.
The exhibition marking the 10th anniversary of the prize at the Centre Pompidou in 2017 showcased an exceptional international panorama for drawing enthusiasts, featuring 30 artists from 16 countries.
The first exhibition of the Drawing Prize abroad was held in Germany at the Wilhelm-Hack-Museum in Ludwigshafen from 17 November 2018 to 24 February 2019.
Florence and Daniel Guerlain
© Christophe Boulze
The Daniel and Florence Guerlain Contemporary Art Foundation
Encouraging and promoting contemporary drawing
Daniel and Florence Guerlain did not stop at building the largest private collection of contemporary drawings in France.
In 1996, they created their own contemporary art foundation and, in 2006, launched the Contemporary Drawing Prize dedicated to artists for whom drawing – works on paper, collages, wall drawings – constitutes a significant part of their work. All graphic media are accepted—pencil, charcoal, ink, wash, gouache, watercolour, pastel, felt-tip pen, or sanguine—with the exception of computer or mechanical processes.
The three artists nominated each year by a committee of six experts may be French or foreign nationals, provided that they reside in France or maintain a special cultural connection with the country through institutional exhibitions.
The winner is chosen by a jury of French and foreign collectors, which is renewed each year.
Prize money: €25,000, including €15,000 for the winner and €5,000 for each of the two other artists.
A work by the winner is donated by the Foundation to a French institution.
The Drawing Prize
of the Daniel and Florence Guerlain
Contemporary Art Foundation
An international jury
Composed exclusively of French and foreign collectors and renewed for each edition, the jury for the 2026 edition consisted of:
- Peter Bertoux, Belgian
- Amy Jo Spitalier, American
- Adrian Dannatt, English
- José Ángel Sanz Esquide, Spanish
- François Michel, French
- Béatrice Dunogué, French
- Philippe Bouchet, French
- Florence and Daniel Guerlain, French
The selection committee
Since the award’s inception, artists have been selected by a committee of six experts:
- Emmanuelle Brugerolles, Honorary Curator General of Heritage,
- Yuan-Chih Cheng, Advisor to the Directorate-General for Artistic Creation,
- Hervé Halgand, collector,
- Lucia Pesapane, curator and exhibition organiser,
- Florence and Daniel Guerlain, collectors and founders of the prize.
The winners
Silvia Bächli, Switzerland (2007), Sandra Vásquez de la Horra, Chile (2009), Catharina Van Eetvelde, Belgium (2010), Marcel Van Eeden, Netherlands (2011), Jorinde Voigt, Germany (2012), Susan Hefuna, Germany (2013), Tomasz Kowalski, Poland (2014), Jockum Nordström, Sweden (2015), Cameron Jamie, United States (2016), Ciprian Muresan, Romania (2017), Mamma Andersson, Sweden (2018), Claire Morgan, Ireland (2019), Joan Uslé, Spain (2020), Françoise Pétrovitch, France (2021), Olga Chernysheva, Russia (2022), Pascal Leyder, Belgium (2023), Amir Nave, Israel (2024), Alice Maher, Ireland (2025), Renie Spoelstra (2026).
Every year, the Salon du Dessin hosts an exhibition of the nominees’ works and announces the winner.
Renie Spoelstra, winner of the 2026 Guerlain Prize
The Daniel & Florence Guerlain Contemporary Art Foundation’s 2026 Drawing Prize was awarded to the artist Renie Spoelstra on Thursday 26 March at the Salon du Dessin.
Artists nominated for the 2026 Drawing Prize of the Guerlain Foundation
Cathryn Boch, Simon Schubert and Renie Spoelstra are the three artists nominated for the 19th Daniel and Florence Guerlain Contemporary Art Foundation Drawing Prize.
The patrons
- Le Cercle des Amis de la Fondation d’art contemporain Daniel & Florence Guerlain
- La Maison Guerlain, www.guerlain.fr
- Neuflize OBC, www.neuflizeobc.fr
- Artcurial, www.artcurial.com
- Artprice by ArtMarket.com
- Voisin Consulting Life Sciences, www.voisinconsulting.com
- Groupe Élysées Monceau, www.elysees-monceau.fr
- Groupe Pasteur Mutualité, www.gpm.fr
- PatrimOne assurances
- Arte Generali www.artegenerali.com
The partners
- Le Salon du dessin
- La Maison Ruinart
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