Art21 artist Vija Celmins (Season 2) is the third woman to receive the Roswitha Haftmann Prize, first awarded in 2001. This prize is hailed as the most valuable award in Europe for contemporary artists. The Roswitha Haftmann Foundation, the organization that administers the prize, aims to recognize outstanding achievements in the visual arts. Every one-to-three years the foundation selects a living artist based on the artistic significance of their work without regard to their personal circumstances, which are loosely identified as nationality, age, gender, etc. The foundation values Celmins’ “masterly and uncanny way of exploiting widely differing artistic media to the utmost advantage for her creative purposes.” Art21 congratulates Celmins on her recent award.
