Sculptor Tony Cragg To Receive The 2026 European Culture Prize
10Aug. 1, 2026
British-born sculptorTony Craggwill beawardedtheEuropean Culture Prizethis year at the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam on September 4. The award, which has been given out each year since 2012 by the European Cultural Forum, honors pioneering European artists across several disciplines and artistic spheres.
Born in Liverpool, Cragg has been a resident of Wuppertal, Germany, for nearly five decades. His work merges natural forms, found materials, scientific experimentation, and movement into an artistic language that is both personal and universally resonant.
In 2008, he co-founded the Waldfrieden Sculpture Park near Wuppertal, which has helped put Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia region on the map as a global destination for art. Reiner Schränkler, chairman of the board of the European Cultural Forum, said in a statement: “Tony Cragg is one of the most significant sculptors of our time.” He added, “His works uniquely combine science, nature, materials research and artistic vision. He has had a lasting impact on international sculpture and has inspired generations of artists.” Related Chicago’s Renaissance Society Receives $45,000 Ellsworth Kelly Award Emerging Native Arts Grant Awarded to Melissa Melero-Moose
The European Culture Prize (known as TAURUS) was founded by Sven Schubert, a Dresden-based artist and current board member of the European Cultural Forum. Past recipients of the award include artist Gerhard Richter, designer Vivienne Westwood, artist Neo Rauch, cellist Sol Gabetta, and tenor Rolando Villazón.
At the celebratory gala on September 4, Felix Krämer, director general and artistic director of the Kunstpalast Düsseldorf will deliver a laudatory speech in honor of Cragg receiving the prize. He has previously collaborated with Cragg on the exhibition “Tony Cragg: Please Touch!,” at Kunstpalast Düsseldorf. Other honorees at the gala, which is themed “Great Voices – Great Names,” include designer Iris van Herpen, actor Famke Janssen, former soccer player and coach Ruud Gullit, and violinist Nicola Benedetti, among many others.