On Thursday, December 17, 2015, Her Majesty Queen Maxima of the Netherlands attended the 2015 Prix de Rome ceremony held at the Appel Arts Center in Amsterdam.

Established in 1808 by Louis Napoleon, who introduced the Prix de Rome to The Netherlands for the for the advancement of the arts.  The award is the oldest and considered to be the most prestigious for visual artists under the age of 40.  The purpose of the Prix de Rome is to identify exceptional, talented visual artists living in The Netherlands, to stimulate their further development, and to increase their visibility. Since January 2013, The Mondriaan Fund has been responsible for the award.

The winner of the 2015 Prix de Rome, along with a check worth €40,000, went to Ms. Magali Reus for her work entitled, Leaves.  According to a press release Ms. Reus received the award for the:

“…high quality of her presentation and the fact that one looks forward to seeing which step the artist will be taking next in her development. In the words of the judges, ‘The artist works with both focus and restraint towards a new course, while making clear-cut choices. She is able to translate this process into a stimulating presentation that is both formal and personal and gradually unveils its meaning to the viewer.’ The panel was intrigued by the puzzling yet beautiful idiosyncrasy of the presented objects: their references to digital reality remain fragmented, while their enigmatic materiality raises more questions than can be answered.”

If you are interested in viewing some of the works by the 2015 Prix de Rome finalists an exhibition will be held at the Appel Arts Center in Amsterdam until January 17, 2016.

 Click here to view photos.