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THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND LETTERS
ANNOUNCES 2009 ART AWARD WINNERS

New York, March 20, 2009 -- The American Academy of Arts and Letters announced today the eight artists who will receive its 2009 awards in art. The awards will be presented in New York City in May at the Academy's annual Ceremonial. The art prizes, totaling $57,500, honor both established and emerging artists. The award winners were chosen from a group of 30 artists who had been invited to participate in the Invitational Exhibition of Visual Arts, which opened on March 12, 2009. These 30 participating artists had been selected from a group of over 170 artists nominated by members of the Academy. The members of this year's selection committee were: William Bailey, Jennifer Bartlett, Chuck Close, Varujan Boghosian, Jane Freilicher, Martin Puryear, Robert Ryman, and Urusla von Rydingsvard.

Works by the winners of the 2009 Art Awards are currently on display in the Invitational Exhibition of Visual Arts. It will remain on display for the Exhibition Of Work By Newly Elected Members And Recipients Of Honors And Awards, which follows the Ceremonial in May.

Academy Awards in Art

Five Academy Awards in Art for $7500 each were given to honor exceptional accomplishment and to encourage creative work.

Stephen Antonakos
Gregory Crewdson
John Dubrow		 Duncan Johnson
Susan Jane Walp

Jimmy Ernst Award in Art

The $5000 Jimmy Ernst Award in Art was given to a ''painter or sculptor whose lifetime contribution to his or her vision has been both consistent and dedicated.''   Charles Cajori

John Koch Award in Art

The $10,000 inaugural John Koch Award was given to a young painter of figurative work.   Elisa Jensen

Rosenthal Family Foundation Award in Painting

The $5000 Rosenthal Family Foundation Award was presented to a ''young American painter of distinction.''
Hilary Harkness

Art Purchase Program

The Academy's purchase program began in 1946 to place the work of talented, living American artists in museums across the country. Since the inauguration of the purchase program, the Academy has spent nearly $3 million to purchase over 1100 works of art. The American Impressionist Childe Hassam (1859-1935) founded this program through the bequest of over 400 of his works with the stipulation that the accumulated income from their sale be used to establish a fund to purchase paintings and works on paper. Similar bequests were made by Academy members Eugene Speicher (1883-1962), Louis Betts (1873-1961), and Gardner Symons (1861-1930). Works by the artists purchased in 2009 will be donated to American museums.

Charles Gaines
Ann Gale
Mark Karnes
Judy Linn
Tine Lundsfryd
Chris Martin		 Beverly McIver
Harry Naar
David Nelson
Jim Nutt
Celia Reisman
Stephen Talasnik


Press Contact: Souhad Rafey, academy AT artsandletters.org, (212) 368-5900.