Created in 1996 to encourage and highlight the place of drawing in contemporary art, the Daniel and Florence Guerlain Foundation’s Drawing Prize has greatly contributed to the recognition of this medium in the art world.
Three artists were competing for the 12th edition of the Drawing Prize: Friedrich Kunath (German artist), Claire Morgan (Irish artist) and Jérôme Zonder (French artist).
Assembled in Paris on March 28, 2019, the jury has awarded the 2019 Drawing Prize to Claire Morgan, born in 1980 in Belfast who lives and works in Newscastle.
The award ceremony took place on the same day in the Salon du Dessin which is hosting an exhibition of the three nominated artists until April 1. The winner received a prize of 15,000 EUR, whilst the other two artists each received an endowment of 5,000 EUR. A work by the winner will be offered to a French museum by the Daniel & Florence Guerlain Foundation.
In an œuvre comprising works on paper, paintings and installations, Claire Morgan combines geometry and lyricism, two notions which correspond to her determination to reconcile a certain radicalness and the vitality she observes in nature. Some have compared her work to mythology, yet here it is more a question of observing the energy of animals and of succeeding in “capturing a fleeting moment.” With this ever-growing bestiary, Claire Morgan reflects on current ecological and political issues.
Her work belongs to the collections of the Museum of Old and New Art, the Centre Pompidou, the Fondation Frances, the Fondation Emerige, Cardiff University and the Florence et Daniel Guerlain donation at the Musée national d’art moderne - Centre Pompidou…
Claire Morgan is represented by the gallery Karsten Greve (Paris, Köln, St Moritz).
About the Daniel & Florence Guerlain Foundation’s Drawing Prize
Created in 1996, the Daniel & Florence Guerlain Contemporary Art Foundation organized exhibitions in the family property for ten years, before Daniel and Florence Guerlain decided to devote the Foundation’s activities to the Contemporary Drawing Prize.
This prize is reserved for French and foreign artists, whether they live in France or not, but who sustain a privileged cultural link with France, and for whom drawing constitutes a significant part of their work.
Awarded for the first time in 2007 and biennial until 2009, the Prize honours artists who make any unique work on paper, using graphic means: crayon, charcoal, red chalk, ink, wash tint, gouache, watercolour, pastels and felt… including collages and wall drawings but excluding computer and mechanical processes.
The candidates are selected by a committee composed of the two founders, Daniel and Florence Guerlain, and of six members chosen for their competence in contemporary art. Following a working meeting with the artists, visits to studios and analysis, the committee selects three artists whose work is presented to a jury that changes with each prize and chooses the winner.
Members of the 2019 jury were: Shalva Breus (Russia), Hélène Gheysens (France), Giovanni Giuliani (Italy), Heidi Schwab (Switzerland), Maris Vitols (Latvia), Anne-Marie Patricot (France), Benjamin Paulin (France), Florence and Daniel Guerlain (France).
The prize receives the support of Neuflize OBC, Artcurial, Axa XL Art & Lifestyle, Guerlain, Groupe Elysées Monceau, Groupe Pasteur Mutualité, Voisin Consulting Life Sciences, the Foundation’s Cercle des Amis, the Salon du Dessin, Beaux-Arts de Paris, Château Seguin, La Maison Champagne Ruinart, Vodka Beluga.
Past winners: 2018: Mamma Andersson (Sweden); 2017: Ciprian Muresan (Romania); 2016: Cameron Jamie (United States); 2015: Jockum Nordström (Sweden); 2014: Tomasz Kowalski (Poland); 2013: Susan Hefuna (Egypt); 2012: Jorinde Voigt (Germany); 2011: Marcel Van Eeden (Netherlands); 2010: Catharina Van Eetvelde (Belgium); 2009: Sandra Vasquez de la Horra (Chile); 2007: Silvia Bächli (Switzerland).
Contact: Daniel & Florence Guerlain Contemporary Art Foundation, T +33 (0)6 44 13 99 14, FDG2 [at] wanadoo.fr
